Heart's Like The Tides
by Belita Girl
Summary: Derak saga part II. Old enemies are seeking revenge on Derak the Absol. However, what started as revenge quickly erupts into something much bigger than ever anticipated. What emerges is a revolution carrying the threat of total destruction for all.
1. New Beginnings

Chapter 1: Hearts like Tides - New Beginnings

Disclaimer: I don't own pokemon.

Authoresses Note: Well here it is! I've finally got the first chapter of the sequel up. Instead of doing two different stories I decided to combine the two and make every other chapter about Favian/Jadin and Derak/Abha. So expect it to be twice as long. I'm all excited now. This first chapter will be about Derak/Abha. So please as always enjoy. **To new readers I highly suggest that you read the story A Place Long Forgotten. This is the sequel to it.**

* * *

The trek through the unforgiving wild was harsh enough without someone trying to capture you all the time.

A white blur streaked out from the forest, across a dusty dirt path and back into the forest on the other side. He kept on running until he was sure the human had stopped pursuing him. He collapsed, panting, on the forest floor. Scratched old and new littered his white fur and dried blood matted his mane and face. He was very skinny, like he hadn't eaten for days, his ribs stuck out. His pink tongue hung limply out of his mouth, dehydrated and useless.

He was an Absol. And he knew he wasn't going to last much longer.

He tried to get to his feet but was unsuccessful. Falling back down he knew that if he didn't get help he'd die here. His heavily and loud breathing would surely attract some passerby. Hopefully it would be a friendly passerby and not a hungry pokemon. A few days back he had been caught scrounging food from a human trash bin. Absols were rare in that part and he soon had a flock of trainers looking to capture him for their collection. They pursued him for days. He couldn't stop to eat or rest as long as they were trailing him.

He had thought that he had lost the most of them but one surprised him earlier that day. Now here he was, broken and alone.

He could only think of how he did in his life. He wished he could say he had done good and accomplished a lot but that was far from the truth. He couldn't even properly die with the guilt of his life.

"Better to die than to be caught by some trainer." He thought to himself.

From what he had heard from his late father trainers were cruel masters. His own father had been captured before he escaped to the pack of Absols that Wasaki had grown up in. The stories he had told him were awful. They carried whips and used them to punish their pokemon if they lost or preformed poorly. Somehow his father had escaped.

It wasn't they way he wanted to go. He'd rather die than be taken by some trainer. Unfortunately the pokegods weren't on his side at this particular moment.

The bushes rustled and he heard footsteps approaching him.

"Of course. They're punishing me for what I did." He thought bitterly.

A quieter pair of footsteps approached him. He heard something sniffing his neck.

"Don't worry Absol. My trainer and I will get you to safety." A gentle feminine voice said.

Too weak to speak Wasaki could only lay there. His eye sight started to go fuzzy and he felt his world going black.

"Maleah! We've got to get this Absol to safety! Go Ultraball!" A human voice called before Wasaki blacked out completely.

"Oh thank you Lugia." Was his last thought before he felt himself being sucked into the ball.

Waking up what seemed like minutes later but was probably actually hours Wasaki opened his eyes.

His vision was blurry at first and he had to blink before he could see properly. The place he was in was very strange. It was obviously a human settlement, it reeked of their scent, but he had never been inside one before.

He tried to move but found he was still too weak to do anything. His body was resting on some sort of raised platform. It was all white and was quite comfortable. Wasaki took in the sight of the rest of the room. Also all white.

He heard loud footsteps approaching the room. He began to feel a little nervous. What were they going to do to him? The footsteps entered the room he was in and a human female with pink fur on her head walked in.

"Humans are so strange." Wasaki thought as he wrinkled his nose in disgust.

"Oh good you're up!" She said in a high pitched voice that made Wasaki want to bury his head.

"The person who brought you in will be here shortly so just stay right here." She continued before walking back out the room.

"Not like I have a choice." He growled weakly.

A large, pink, and rotund pokemon entered the room. It had beady little black eyes and short stubby limbs. Wasaki didn't know what to make of it.

"Hello. I am your nurse. Are you thirsty? You must be because you were absolutely dehydrated when we brought you in." She quipped happily. Not waiting for my answer she spoke up again. "I'll go get you some water." She left the room.

The pokemon came back with a large dish of water.

"Here let me help you with that." She said and flipped him over so that he could lap up water from the dish.

He gladly accepted the water and drank every last drop. He was so thirsty he didn't even notice to individuals enter the room. The pokemon took away the empty and walked out of the room. Wasaki finally noticed the others.

A female human and her pokemon were sitting next to his bed. The human had long brown hair and brown eyes. She was watching him closely. He looked at the pokemon and was suddenly breathless. She was beautiful. She had cream coloured fur and a long tuft of fur on the top of her head. Her most amazing feature however were the nine tails wrapped gracefully around her front paws.

"Hello there guy!" The human said happily. She got up and walked towards the bed. He didn't perceive her as an immediate threat but made no move as she came close. She was quiet short by human standards and cautiously moved near him. His fur bristled a bit as she outstretched her hand. The pokemon she was with trotted over.

"You don't have to worry about her. She's harmless." The pokemon said. Wasaki registered the voice as the one who spoke to him when he was in the forest and allowed the human to stroke his back.

"So what's your name?" The pokemon asked.

"Wasaki." He rasped. His voice was still sore from the lack of water.

She nodded. "That's a nice name. You're an Absol correct? I've seen your kind on our journey. I'm Maleah the Ninetails." She said.

He nodded. "Could you tell me where I am?" He asked. She grinned coyly.

"First time being here? This is a Pokemon Center. Trainers bring their pokemon here to be healed. You'll get used to it eventually." She said.

"Get used to it? Aren't I leaving after this?" He asked worriedly.

She frowned. "Leaving? My trainer signed the adoption papers. You're on the team now."

Wasaki felt his heart plummet into his stomach. The gods had indeed gotten their revenge on him. He was alive yes, but his freedom was gone.

"Why oh why?" He thought sadly to himself. Now he knew how the others had felt under his rule. Oppressed and alone. What had he done? Little did he know that his adventure was only beginning.

* * *

Across the continent another Absol was getting up to meet the day. He walked out of his cave and yawned widely as the sun bathed the cliffs surrounding his territory in orange and red. A smile came to his muzzle as he watched the beauty of it. A sudden nudge to his side made him look down.

His mate had just gotten up and had her head resting on his powerful shoulder. Burying her head in his mane she sighed. He lovingly nuzzled her cheek before giving her a lick.

"It's going to be a beautiful day." He commented.

"It sure is." She replied.

The couple sat and watched the sunrise in silence, enjoying each others company. A sudden shadow was cast overhead followed by the flapping of wings. The male Absol smiled.

"Morning Avis." He said.

The large bird pokemon, Avis, bowed to the couple.

"Morning Derak. Morning Abha." He said.

"Any news today?" Abha asked.

Avis shook his feathery head.

"There's nothing out of order I should report. Things are running smoothly. You're both doing a fantastic job of ruling." He praised.

Derak smiled. "Thank you Avis." He said.

It had been a month since the whole situation. Everyday Derak thanked the gods for bringing him back home to his love and his lands. If he hadn't come back Wasaki and the Persians would've drove the place into the ground. If he hadn't come back he would've still been at Mount Wolfe feeling guilty for leaving. He was so lucky.

"Anytime Derak. Now I've got be getting back. It's time for breakfast." He said before launching himself into the air.

Derak chuckled as he watched him fly away. It was great having the bird pokemon keep an eye on things Derak himself couldn't monitor.

"That sounds like a good idea. Shall we go for a hunt?" Abha asked.

He felt his own stomach asking for food. "Yeah. Let's go." He said.

Abha grinned and playfully pranced ahead. "Race you?" She asked.

Derak hesitated. "But in your condition?" He asked worriedly.

Abha rolled her eyes. "I'm pregnant not dying." She said before taking off towards the forest where prey could be found.

"Hey wait for me!" He cried and laughing chased her.

They ran all the way to the forest before she tackled him. She nuzzled his face lovingly as she had him pinned beneath her. She finally got up and allowed him to stand. She had a noticeable bulge to her stomach although she wasn't too big yet. It would still be about two more months before she was ready to give birth.

Derak was so excited to meet his child. But something was constantly nagging at the back of his mind. What kind of child would he have? And more importantly would he/she like him? Would he be a good dad?

Abha noticed his silence.

"Is something wrong Derak?" She asked.

He sighed. He didn't want to tell her in case she laughed at him. Not that she would but he just didn't want to seem pitiful.

"No it's nothing." He said but Abha didn't look convinced. She put her head underneath his chin.

"You know you can tell me everything and anything right?" She asked.

"Yes." He said.

"So what's wrong?" She asked worriedly.

He hesitated at first but allowed himself to tell her the truth.

"Well I'm just worried about the new baby." He admitted.

"What about it?"

"I'm worried I'm not going to be a good dad. My father was always so good to me and I worry that I might not live up to his expectations." He admitted.

Abha moved out from under his chin and gave him a sympathetic look.

"Derak. It's okay to have those feelings. I think all expecting parents have those feelings. As for not living up to your dad I think you'll do just fine. I mean look who you had for a teacher. You're dad was fantastic and you learned what he showed you when you were a young pokemon whether you realize it or not. You won't be a good dad, you'll be a great dad." She smiled.

A smile came to Derak's face.

"You'll be a fantastic mom. I love you Abha." He said before licking her on the top of her head.

"I love you too Derak." She said.

A sudden movement made both of them look to the bushes. A Rattata had taken off into the foliage and without hesitating thru two mates rushed after their meal.

* * *

A female Persian was angrily clawing through the bushes in another forest miles away from Derak and Abha. She stalked furiously back to her cave. She had just found out that her mate, Akoni the Persian Boss, was dead.

His work had finally overcome him. She had warned him about a month ago. He didn't listen to her and he got himself killed. She growled as she reached Persian territory. She had been in charge of this territory while he had been away on business and what not. Now it seemed she was in charge permanently.

Their son had no idea that his father was dead. She'd have to tell him before the news reached him any other way. As she reached their cave she saw him prance out chasing after an unfortunate Caterpie that had crawled into the cave. He playfully chased the small bug as it crawled for its life.

Andromeda walked closer to him.

"Sadi. I have to tell you something." She said sternly.

"In a sec mom I just have to chase out this bug." He said as he playfully growled at the worm pokemon. It squeaked shrilly.

Andromeda was feeling annoyed. She approached her son and his 'playmate' and proceeded to squish the unfortunate worn beneath her paws.

"Now." She growled. Sadi looked remorsefully at the remains of the bug but followed his mother's orders and went into their cave.

She followed him. "Sit." She ordered. He obeyed silently and looked up at her.

"I have some bad news. You're father is dead." She hung her head sadly.

He looked up wide eyed and shocked. "But you said he was coming home! You promised!" He shrieked as tears filled his eyes.

She sighed. "I know. But now this leaves you first in line for the entire business he ran. You can get your revenge in due time." She growled happily as she thought of the Absol pack who had killed him.

The Meowth kitten curled up into a tight ball and started to cry.

"Don't worry Sadi. One day when you're a big and strong Persian you can make things right again." She comforted him.

She walked out of the cave and left to go tell the rest of the pack. One day, she swore, one day she'd get her revenge for the murder of her mate.

Those Absols would pay. They'd all pay.

* * *

Authoresses Note: Okay it's kind of short but I hope it was good all the same. Please read and review. And yes Wasaki and the Persians are back. 


	2. New Allies New Foes

Heart's Like the Tides: Chapter 2 – New Allies and New Foes

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon.

Authoresses Note: Okay I lied. I decided, for the last time, to have Jadin and Favian's adventure as a spin-off story. This story will solely be about the Absols and Persians and such. Here's the second chapter. Please enjoy.

* * *

Being in a pokeball was a strange experience if you weren't used to it. It wasn't something Wasaki could explain easily. It's like you were there but in an omnipotent sort of way. Yet he was still aware of his bodily functions but he couldn't see a body. He could also somehow tell that the trainer was walking. After the chat with the Ninetails, Maleah, he had been given some strange tasting liquid that put him to sleep. The next thing he knew he was being recalled into the pokeball.

Wild pokemon like himself normally wouldn't be aware what a pokeball was even for but his father had taught him a lot about trainers when he was alive.

"_They have these capture devices. Never ever allow yourself to be placed in a situation where they have you cornered. They'll throw a ball at you that will suck you in. If you ever do get into that situation then make sure you fight for your life." _

Wasaki remembered the words well. He had tried to fight the power of the ball but he was still weak and found he couldn't quite get himself out. He had failed his father.

He felt the ball lurch suddenly and in a flash of red light he found himself sitting on the ground outside. The female trainer was standing in front of him. She gave him a smile and patted his head. He didn't like being petted like some common pokemon so he moved his head out of her reach. She shrugged and took out four other pokeballs. She tossed them on the ground and four flashes of light revealed various other pokemon including Maleah.

Now standing before him was a Sharpedo, a Roselia, a pokemon he had never seen before, and Maleah. The female trainer spoke up.

"Okay gang. This is the new member of the team. He's still a little sore so go easy on him." She called out to the pokemon. The three nodded and Maleah waved one of her tails at him. The trainer smiled at them and started digging around in her backpack. While she was busy the three he hadn't met approached him.

"Hey there!" The Roselia squeaked at him. This one was defiantly female. Her voice was quite high pitched.

"Welcome to the team." The pokemon that he wasn't familiar with said in a gentle voice. This one was female too. She was half orange and half brown and had a long neck. Her tail seemed to be a separate head complete with a face.

The Sharpedo, not being the friendly type Wasaki concluded, merely nodded at him. Maleah walked up beside Wasaki.

"Everyone I'd like you to meet Wasaki here. He's an Absol, just like the one that trainer we battled against had." She said. Wasaki assumed she was the de facto leader of the team. She had the air of leadership about her.

She turned to him. "I'd like you to meet Kinesis the Girafarig." She nodded at the pokemon Wasaki had never seen before.

She continued, "Ayana the Roselia." She pointed a tail at the Roselia.

"And finally this is Shiva, the Sharpedo. He's antisocial but once you get to know him he's harmless." She finished.

"Nice to meet you all." Wasaki said politely. They all responded in their own separate ways, Shiva's being a grunt.

"Now why don't you all go eat and I'll show Wasaki around and tell him about Annette and what she's like." Maleah suggested.

The rest nodded and left and Maleah turned to me once more. "Come on we'll eat soon enough. It'll just be easier for you if I show you the ropes."

Wasaki grinned at the chance of spending time with Maleah. "No problem." Maleah grinned back and then starting leading him silently towards where the trainer, Annette, was sitting.

* * *

Andromeda had gathered up all the Persians, Delcattys, or any other able fighter within the pack. She sat in the middle of a large circle surrounded by all her allies. Clearing her throat the entire forest seemed to fall silent.

"It is with great sorrow that I announce the passing of my mate Akoni." She said in a monotonous voice. The entire forest seemed to suddenly buzz with chatter. The powerful and ruthless Persian was dead?

Andromeda continued on. "I know this is a great shock my friends you are not alone in your mourning. I am left to rule without a mate and our son is fatherless. This tragedy affects us all."

"Mam! How did he die?" A Persian spoke up. Andromeda turned her attention to him.

"He was murdered." She spat harshly. He eyes flashed with anger as she said it. "Murdered by the leader of an Absol pack and a turncoat Persian."

Gasps were heard in every direction. Several pokemon spoke up at once.

"What are we going to do now?"

"His heir is too young to lead us!"

"What about the empire he left behind?"

Andromeda growled in irritation.

"SILENCE!" She shouted. The forest turned its attention to her once more.

"This is not the end my friends!" She said. "This Absol shall pay for his ignorance. We will fight with all our might till he and everything he loves is brought down! I will lead you to a bright future! I will finish what Akoni hoped to do! An Empire run by Persians and Delcatty shall finally come to be in existence! We'll do it together!" She shouted happily.

She let out a fierce yowl and in response every other cat pokemon followed to show their support.

"We shall gather all of our allies! Every last powerful ally we have. We will take on the Absols. But we won't stop at them. We'll take over every last pokemon territory till it's all ours. We'll finish what Akoni worked for his whole life! First we shall go and gather as many rock pokemon as we can, next shall be the Machop and Machoke, I also know of a Gyarados that owes Akoni a favour, he shall be recruited too. Those pokemon shall help us in our fight against the Absols but after that we shall go get others in our eventual take over of the pokemon world! Who's with me?!" She shouted and was greeted with another chorus of yowls. Grinning evilly at the amount of power on their side.

Sudden flapping of wings made all the pokemon look up. Andromeda raised her head to see two large orange dragons flying over head. They landed suddenly in front of her. She retracted her claws and all the cat pokemon did the same. The larger and more scarred of the two dragons grinned evilly.

"Good evening Madam. Are you Andromeda, mate of Akoni?" He asked in a rough sounding voice.

Not losing her defensive manner. "I am." She replied.

"No need to be wary of us Madam. I am Ignazio the Charizard. This is my younger brother Egon. We are merely looking to join you in your vendetta. It is easy to see we would be of great help to you. We have the power of flight and fire. We are quite powerful." He said in his deep growling voice.

Andromeda relaxed a little but did not bring her claws back in.

"You would no doubt be of service to us. However we do not know you or your motives. We do not know if we can trust you." She said.

The Charizard laughed. "I had heard you were all quite suspicious. But no matter. We shall prove our loyalty to you. As for our motives we had heard of a powerful Persian by the name of Akoni. We had looked around and found more information about him and his objective. He wanted power and that's something he and I have in common. You see we would like to help you reach your objective and only receive a bit of the power in return. By becoming trusted members of your empire we felt we could achieve this. Now what would you have us do?"

Andromeda looked thoughtful for a moment. "Bring me back a friend of Derak the Absol. Leave him and his mate alone for now. They're mine to care of when the time comes." Andromeda ordered.

"Any friend? Do you want an Absol specifically? Or does it matter?" Ignazio asked.

"Any friend. We'll knock Derak's support out from under him by going for his allies. He'll fall at our feet. Now go, bring me back a friend of that murderous Absol, dead or alive." Andromeda snapped.

Ignazio bowed his head in respect for snapping at his younger brother. "Let's go!"

The two spread their wings and took to the sky.

"We'll be back with your pound of flesh Madam. Do not worry." Ignazio called before he and Egon took off into the night.

As the two flew high above Hoenn to where Derak and his allies would be found Egon was having doubts.

"Brother. I do not think this is a good idea. Those Persians are evil and how are we to trust them?" Egon called to his scarred brother.

"Do you have no faith?" Ignazio snapped. "Do you not want power?"

Egon sighed but not loudly enough for Ignazio to hear.

"I guess so brother." Egon said unconvincingly.

"Good. Now be fleet of wing. The sooner we bring back an ally of Derak the sooner our names will be known throughout Hoenn and the rest of the world. They will say fear when they say our names." Ignazio hissed before letting out a great stream of fire from his mouth. It would at least be a few days before they made it to Absol territory. Who said they couldn't have some fun before then?

Egon bit his tongue as he thought of killing another. It wasn't an experience he particularly wanted to try but he owed his brother many favours. He had taken care of him since he was young. He couldn't just leave his older brother. He depended on him. Even if he didn't want to take part in this quest for power he still had to follow his brother and try to be more of a help than a hindrance.

* * *

Avis sensed something was wrong as he flew overhead. The lands seemed perfectly fine. Nothing was out of order yet something just seemed wrong. Like there was something sinister coming.

He squinted his eyes and look ahead as far as his advanced eyesight would allow. He couldn't see anything coming from the north. He flew in a circle in order to look in all directions. Still nothing.

Not convinced he flew down lower to see if he had missed something on the ground. Flying low he noticed a small Pidgey struggling to keep aloft. He seemed to be exhausted. He swooped down to where the Pidgey was struggling and chirped in a friendly manner.

"Hello there young one. Are you alright?" He asked kindly.

The Pidgey was gasping as he tried to stay in the air.

"Please help me." He gasped before his wings stopped beating altogether and he started to plummet towards the ground. Avis wasted no time in swooping down after him and caught the small bird gently in his talons.

He proceeded to fly towards Derak and Abha's cave. There was something wrong and he hoped the Pidgey might have some answers. He neared the cave and saw Derak sitting outside in the sun with Abha.

He swooped down and landed as best as he could on one foot. He held out the foot holding the Pidgey out to the couple. Abha instinctively moved forward to remove the Pidgey from his grip. She picked him up as gently as she could with her teeth and placed him in her paws.

"What's happened here Avis?" Derak asked as Abha licked the Pidgey clean in a motherly fashion.

"I found the poor guy struggling along. He asked me for help." Avis replied.

"He's completely worn out." Abha spoke up.

"I know, he could barely fly. I think something awful happened to him. Before I saw him I just had this feeling that something bad was going to happen." Avis said. "I was hoping that he could give us some information if something's going on."

Derak 'hmmed' and looked to the small bird in Abha's paws. "Let's bring him inside then. I'll go get some water for when he wakes up. Do you think you could find some , you know, bird food?" Derak asked Avis.

Avis nodded. "I'll go get a small bug pokemon for him." He said before taking off.

Derak looked back to Abha who was once again gently picking up the Pidgey. "I'll take him back to the cave." She said as best she could with a mouth full of feathers. Derak nodded gratefully before running off to find some water.

Abha brought the Pidgey into the cave and waited for the other two to come back. They arrived back quickly and wasted no time bringing the food and water into the cave. As they moved closer the Pidgey began to stir. His eyes fluttered open and he blinked a couple of times to adjust to the lack of light in the cave.

"Where am I?" He asked weakly.

"Don't worry, you're safe here. We have some food and water for you." Avis said. The Pidgey seemed to recognize Avis's voice because he felt safe enough to move forward and accept the water Derak had brought. As he drank the water and ate some of the food Derak started to talk.

"Could you tell us why you were in trouble? We can help you if you tell us. You're all the way in Absol territory. It's rare to see a Pidgey here. Avis was the last member of the Pidgey family to be seen around here for awhile." Derak explained.

Once the Pidgey stopped he looked to the three adult pokemon. Feeling safe enough to talk he sighed and started his story.

"It was all so random. I lived in a fairly large flock of mixed bird pokemon. We lived a couple of day's flight away from here. However about a week ago we were attacked. I was separated from my mom. Many of the adult's were killed. I don't know how my mother is doing. She managed to protect me from the attacked while I could escape. She told me to fly and never look back. I followed her orders and flew till I got here." He managed to gasp out his story. He was still exhausted from his flight.

"That's awful." Abha said. She licked the Pidgey to comfort him.

"But to be attacked without, that's a very strange occurrence." Derak said in a confused voice.

Avis nodded. "What did the attackers look like?" He asked with a thoughtful frown.

The Pidgey shuddered in fear. "They were huge. There were two of them but only one seemed to be doing the attacking. Even so we didn't stand a chance. They were big orange dragons. They spit flames and had a flame on the tip of their tails. I can't remember exactly what they were called. Char-somethings." He said.

"Charizards." Avis said quietly.

"What was that?" Derak asked.

Avis turned to him in a worried way. "Charizards! They're really powerful. They're not evil by nature but if these ones are evil then that spells big trouble. They have very few weaknesses. If they're attacking without reason then I think we should be on guard." Avis said.

The Pidgey coughed suddenly. "Wait there was something else. The bigger one was demanding something."

"What was it?" Derak asked.

"He was looking for someone. He was asking where he could find a pokemon named Derak."

The entire cave held it's breath as the Pidgey said this. No one dared budge.

"Akoni." Derak whispered.

"What?" Abha asked fearfully.

"They must be in league with Akoni! They have to be!" Derak cried out. "Avis! Warn everyone that something's very wrong. I want everyone to be on guard. If any one spots anything out of the ordinary then I want them to report to me."

"You can't be considering fighting those things! Obviously you don't know what a Charizard is capable of. A single one nearly took out the entire flock this Pidgey is from. We're already weakened from the last battle we had. We can't fight them!" Avis pointed out.

Derak growled in frustration at the situation. "Maybe they just want to talk." He said.

"I wouldn't take any chances." Abha spoke up. "They sound dangerous. We shouldn't risk everybody's lives."

Derak looked thoughtful but then finally nodded in agreement. "You're both right. Avis, could you please gather everyone to the center of the field for a meeting. We have to decide what to do. I need to consult this situation with everyone before we come to a decision." Avis nodded and took off swiftly.

"What about me?" The Pidgey squeaked.

Derak turned to him. Abha still had him in her paws.

"Are you feeling up to coming to the meeting?" Derak asked.

"Yes I feel much better now." He said.

"Excellent because we'll need your help. Now tell us what is your name?" Derak asked.

Looking happy at a chance to help the young fowl chirped his name out happily.

"I'm Jaye." He said happily.

Derak smiled. "Nice to meet you. This is Abha and I'm Derak. The Pidgeot who just left is Avis."

"I'll carry you out if you'd like." Abha told the Pidgey. "If you're still too tired that is."

"That'd be nice. Thank you." He said. Abha picked him up gently once more and the three made their way out to the field.

* * *

Authoresses Note: Here's chapter 2. I thank you for the reviews. Luckily I've planned out the direction of this story so this story won't be choppy in regard to plot. Oh and WildTotodile brought up a valid point in her review. In regards to my previous story having a very similar plotline to The Lion King this story will not follow Simba's Pride. I do appreciate that this was brought up though. That way I could clarify. Thanks, Belita Girl.

Oh and in case you were wondering I have some meanings of the new names.

Ignazio is Italian for Fire. Egon also means Fire. Jaye means Jay Bird.


	3. Sudden Departure

Chapter 3: Heart's Like the Tides – Sudden Departure

Disclaimer: I do not own pokemon.

Authoresses Note: Here's chapter three. I don't have much to say here except that I have the plot for the story all laid out so things should go smoothly from here on. Enjoy!

* * *

Once the last Absol had sat down in front of Derak he began the meeting. Clearing his throat to get their attention he began speaking.

"Good evening everyone. There's some serious business. Fire breathing dragons called Charizards attacked a nearby flock of bird pokemon. Most of the flock suffered causalities and this is Pidgey, Jaye, was one of the few lucky ones to escape. And we're quite lucky he came this way." Derak spoke in an authoritative voice.

The Absols reacted to the news of the Charizards with gasps. Only one Absol didn't look worried.

"Yeah they sound strong but why should we be worried?" He asked in a lazy voice. Derak looked at him, he was an Absol by the name of Pollard.

Derak frowned. "We should be worried because they're coming for us. Or rather they're coming for me. But either way we're all in danger from them. If they could just attack a random flock without warning they'd attack all of you regardless of whether I had left to keep the rest of you safe."

More gasps of shock. The stubborn Absol who spoke up widen his eyes in shock.

Derak started pacing in front of them.

"Now that you all see the intensity of this situation we have to discuss a plan…" Derak broke off mid sentence and started sniffing the air around him. The others did the same. Derak's pupils dilated.

"Smoke." He whispered. The worried cries of the Absols starting filling the air.

"Everyone calm down!" Derak roared. The Absols quieted down but still looked at him with fear in their eyes.

"We have to calmly and quietly leave here. They're coming and they're not going to show any mercy." Derak ordered.

"Abha can you lead them out of here. Use the north exit through the forest to remain unseen. Find a good hiding spot and remain there until I come and say it's safe to come out." Derak told Abha.

Abha nodded somberly, accepting what could happen yet hoping that it would not come to that.

"Lead them now. Bring Jaye with you. I'm going to remain behind for a short time before I follow. I need to make sure that we're safe and not being followed before I come with you." Derak turned to the direction that the scent of smoke was wafting from. It was coming from the south.

"I'm coming with you." Avis spoke up.

Derak turned to him. "I appreciate it. But I'd rather you get to safety with the others." He said with a smile.

"No, I'm coming with you. There's no way I'd let you take those things yourself." Avis told him.

"I'm staying too." Abha spoke up.

Derak turned to her and shook his head. "You have more important things to worry about than me." He said and gave the side of her belly a nuzzle. "Please go to safety and we'll take care of things here."

She nodded and a small tear formed in her eye. "Be careful." She whispered in his ear.

"I always am." He whispered back. "Now get you and the others to safety."

She nodded and starting leading the others out towards the northern forest. Looking back for a second she saw her mate walking towards the source of the smoke followed by a low flying Avis. Hoping that they'd come back safe and sound she continued in leading the Absols to safety.

As Derak and Avis neared the southern border the smoke became stronger smelling. Avis squinted as he looked forward.

"I can see smoke rising above the trees in the distance. It's still quite far from here but it looks like a bad fire." He reported.

Derak nodded. "I hope Abha and the others find a good hiding spot to keep safe."

"I'm sure they'll be fine." Avis said.

Derak suddenly lifted his head. "Do you here that?" He asked.

Avis lifted his head and widened his eyes.

"What is that?" He asked in a hushed voice.

They both looked forward as they felt a sudden rumble in the ground. Without warning a large number of assorted pokemon stampeded through the foliage with cries of fear.

"Run away!" They screeched as they rushed by the now confused Avis and Derak.

"What's going on?" Derak shouted at the stampeding pokemon. The large group included Ratatas, Raticates, pokemon of the Nido-family, and even a few Sandshrew. However none stopped to tell what was going on.

"Derak look!" Avis shouted as he started to lift off. Derak looked forward and widened his eyes.

Speechless Derak watched as flames spread quickly through the trees. He had heard forest fires were fast but he had never expected them to move at this speed. The flames consumed everything that was in its way. The dead trees that grew up the rocky cliffs went up in flames especially fast. Horrified Derak looked around to see his entire lands going up in flames.

"RUN DERAK!" Avis shouted. Derak snapped out of his stupor and ran as fast as he could in the direction of the stampede.

"Abha!" Derak cried out. He had to get to her before the flames got to their side of the forest.

"Derak I see something flying this way! There are two of them. I think it's the Charizards!" Avis called as he flew over head.

Derak skidded to a halt and whipped around. There was indeed two large and orange flying objects in the distance.

"I have to stop them!" He shouted. "You go warn the others." Derak said as he started to charge forward. He was stopped by Avis swooping down and blocking him with his wings.

"No! You go get the Absols and get out of here! I'll take care of these two!" Avis said.

"I can't let you fight alone!" Derak snapped.

"Just run Derak! You've got your family and pack to look after. I'll be fine! Just go!" Avis swiped his talons at Derak to get him to move away.

Derak backed off and bowed his head. "Please say you'll be careful." He said.

"I will. Now go!" Avis replied and took off hastily towards the Charizards.

Derak ran as fast as he could to where Abha and the others would be. The smoke was becoming quite thick as he entered the part of the forest they had gone into. The flames would be here any second.

"ABHA!" He yelled. "WHERE ARE YOU?"

Derak was only met with silence. Starting to panic he tried to sniff out their scent but only ended up inhaling smoke which made him feel light headed. Shaking his head to try and clear it he tried to think where they would be.

"DERAK!" Hearing his name Derak turned around to see Abha running towards him.

"We have to get out of here! The others are waiting at a safer part!" She cried.

Derak was so happy to see her. "Let's go!" He said. The two Absols ran through the forest as the flames danced from tree to tree. It was starting to overtake them and oxygen became in short supply.

"We're almost there!" Abha gasped as Derak saw an opening in the forest. They ran until they were well out of the forest and until they saw the other Absols. Collapsing the two panted from exhaustion and lack of oxygen.

"Are you two alright?" The Absol Ines asked. Derak nodded and helped Abha get to her feet.

All the Absols seemed to be looking at him for leadership. Bowing his head he said, "We can't go back to our lands."

"Where are we supposed to go?" An Absol asked.

"I don't know. We'll find someplace and we'll get to the bottom of this. I need to find out what's going on." Derak said.

"Where's Avis?" Abha asked worriedly.

"He's taking care of the Charizards." Derak replied sadly. "I hope he's okay."

The stubborn Absol, Pollard, from the meeting earlier spoke up. "This wouldn't be happening if it weren't for you." He spat at Derak. "We'd still be safe in our lands if it weren't for those Charizards coming after you!"

Abha's fur bristled. "That's enough! This is not Derak's fault. This is not anyone's fault! You're out of line." She snarled at the Absol.

He just scoffed. "I've had enough of you all. I'm out of here!" He stormed off from the shocked group of Absols.

"We don't need him. What we need is a plan on what we're going to do." Derak said.

"Maybe Avis can fill us in when he gets back." An Absol spoke up.

Derak looked up at the sky. "Yes. I just hope he's okay."

* * *

Avis flew straight towards the Charizards. He stopped just short of 100 meters of them. They stopped in mid-flight as well. Avis could see that they were both larger than he was. Covered in thick orange scales and equipped with thick leathery wings and a flaming tail they looked truly fearsome.

"Did you set fire to that forest?" Avis demanded, sounding more brave than he felt.

The larger of the two Charizards chuckled. "Perhaps. What does a featherhead like you care?"

Avis clicked his beak angrily. "You're upsetting the pokemon who live here! You've just destroyed their homes!"

The large Charizard grinned evilly showing off sharp fangs. "Who cares? They're just stupid little weaklings. Strong pokemon should be controlling these lands. Those feeder pokemon don't deserve to live so luxuriously. Now onto business. Could you tell me where a pokemon named Derak can be found. He's an Absol and I know that Absol's are found here."

Avis shook his head. "I'll never tell you such a thing." He said stubbornly.

"Alright. Then we'll just have to do this the hard way!" Without warning he flew forward so fast that Avis had no time to react. The Charizard snatched Avis by the wings in one arm and clamped his beak shut in the other.

"You're obviously a friend of Derak's. That's perfect because we didn't actually need Derak just yet. You've given us enough info anyways. Come on Egon! We've got to bring this bird back to the Persians." He shouted at the smaller built Charizard.

The other Charizard nodded and the two flew as quickly as they could towards the Persians. If they were quick they could make it in a little over a day.

Avis couldn't believe that the Persians were actually in league with these two. Together they would prove to be one powerful enemy to over come. The flight went by too fast for Avis's liking. He didn't want to be near any of the Persians. No doubt some would remember him as an ally of Derak. He would be in big trouble once he arrived.

After a day the Charizards started plummeting towards a spot in the forest. Avis's heart skipped a beat as he thought of what was waiting for him. The large Charizard must've felt his fear.

"Don't worry birdie. It'll all be over soon enough." He said in his evil voice.

Once they landed the Charizard loosened his grip on Avis slightly, though not enough to let him escape.

"Andromeda! I think we have something you're looking for." The Charizard yelled out into the forest.

Slowly but surely Persians and Delcattys slinked in a way that only cats could out of the bushes. A couple of brave looking Meowth also came out to see the fire giants. Lastly a female Persian who looked very much in charge walked out of the bushes with her head high. She took one look at Avis who was being held still by Ignazio and sniffed in disapproval.

"This pokemon is still alive. Besides I asked for a friend of Derak, Derak is an Absol. This bird is clearly not an Absol." She pointed out with disappointment.

"Wait leader!" A Persian cried out. "That's the Pidgeot who helped kill Akoni. He's in league with Derak."

Avis looked at the Persian who spoke and indeed remembered him from the battle. He looked back to the leader Persian whose frown of disapproval had turned into a sly smile.

"You see Andromeda. We brought you back your pound of flesh. And what's more he's still alive for you to take your own revenge on him." Ignazio pointed out.

Andromeda's smile widened. "Indeed. This gives me a wonderful idea. We're going to kill the bird. But why let such a meal go to waste? Tomorrow he shall be slaughtered and we will feast on him!" Akoni said before breaking out into evil laughter. The Persians and Delcattys snickered and laughed along with her until the entire forest was ringing with feline laughter. The large Charizard joined in as well, his loud and haunting roar adding to the noise being made.

Avis was shaking in fear. He had got out of bad situations before but not like this. This was crazy. He looked over to the smaller of the two Charizards and saw that he wasn't laughing. He was looking at the ground in a sad kind of way. Finally he looked up and noticed Avis's gaze. When the two locked eyes Avis noticed that this Charizard wasn't like his brother. He lacked the evil and emotionless look in his eyes. Avis felt a certain hope all of the sudden. Maybe all wasn't lost.

The Persians had stopped laughing. Andromeda cleared her throat for silence. "Ignazio, Egon! Bound this bird to one of the trees. We have a supply of human rope and chains that will do nicely." Andromeda ordered.

"As you wish. And may I ask where we stand in this pack now? After we completed your order of bringing back a friend of Derak's?" Ignazio asked.

Andromeda grinned showing sharp teeth. "You are fully fledged members of this pack. Akoni would be proud to have such strong creatures on his side."

Ignazio grinned. "Thank you very much. Let's go Egon!" He snapped at his brother. The two went to look for some ropes and chains to bind Avis.

Once they had left Andromeda turned to her pack. "I'll have one of you guard the Pidgeot at a time to make sure nothing gets him first or that he doesn't escape. Armon! You're the first guard." Andromeda ordered.

Armon walked forward. He was a large built Persian and had a nasty scar across his back. Just then the Charizard Egon arrived back.

"The bird is bound to a tree." He reported. Andromeda grinned. "Excellent. Take Armon here with you. He's going to be the first guard."

Egon nodded and Armon followed him into the forest. Armon spoke up. "Doesn't that flame hurt you?" He asked curiously.

Egon sighed. "No. My type has an immunity to flames." Nothing more was said as Egon had hoped. He didn't really want to have a conversation with this killing monster.

"There he is." Egon said as they arrived to the spot. He felt a twinge of guilt and sadness as he saw the magnificent bird bound up with no where to go. He knew that he had to follow his brothers orders and he couldn't defy him no matter what.

"Excellent." The Persian hissed as he approached Avis. Avis lifted his head to see the Persian walking up to him.

"I'm going to enjoy eating you tomorrow." The Persian hissed at Avis as he circled the tree. "You're going to pay for what you did to me."

"I'm sure it wasn't undeserved whatever it was I did to you." Avis said lazily.

The Persian growled angrily. "You don't remember me do you?"

"No. Should I?"

The Persian snarled and snapped at Avis's tail. Luckily he didn't succeed in actually biting Avis, only ripping out a chunk of tail feathers.

"Hey don't hurt him!" Egon cried out.

"Shut up!" The Persian shouted at him before turning back to Avis. "You gave me this! You gave me this scar!" He snarled at Avis.

Avis looked at the scar and had a sudden flashback of the battle between the Persians and the Absols.

"You were the attacking enemy. Was I just supposed to let you go free?" Avis spat back.

The Persian growled lowly in his throat. "You'll get your payment. Tomorrow, you'll be in my stomach!"

* * *

Authoresses Note: There's chapter three. I hope it was good. Please leave a review and tell me what you think. 


	4. Fair's Fair

Heart's Like The Tides: Chapter 4 – Fair's Fair

Disclaimer: I don't own pokemon.

Authoresses Note: I'm sorry for the wait. I've been swamped with exams and such. Luckily I finished last week and now I've got plenty of time to write some chapters. Oh and I am going to say that there will be very little of Wasaki in these next chapters. He's not really relevant till later on in the story.

* * *

Egon crept towards the Pidgeot bond to the tree. He had almost reached him when a voice suddenly called out.

"Hey! Who do you think…Oh it's just you." Followed by the Persian guard leaping gracefully out of the bushes.

Egon nodded. "Sorry to startle you. I'm here to give you a break by taking over as his guard for awhile." Egon told him.

The Persian narrowed his eyes slightly, as if trying to detect a lie. "By who's orders?" He asked shrewdly.

Egon put on his boldest look and looked the Persian directly in the eye. "Andromeda's. Now step aside." He hissed. The Persian didn't waste anytime in moving out of his way. Even if he had found Egon guilty of lying it wouldn't have mattered much. Egon could easily take him down.

The Persian trotted out of sight. He wasn't running but he was obviously trying to get out of there as fast as he could without trying to look like too much of a coward. Egon turned back to the Pidgeot who had now woken up.

"Well there goes any plan I had of escaping." He said monotonously. Egon raised an eyebrow, or rather the skin above his eye lid.

"You don't fear death do you?" Egon asked as he moved closer.

"I've come close to death before. Sometimes by accident and sometimes because of something I might've done to put myself in that position. But I don't regret putting myself in obvious danger. I do it for the ones I care about and they're done the same for me many times. You wouldn't understand that though. You only care about yourself and you only do things for yourself. Hurting others never bothered you did it?" Avis taunted.

Egon clenched his fists. "Shut up! You don't know what you're talking about! I don't even know you but I've concocted a plan to get you free at all risks to myself. I lied about the orders from Andromeda and when they find that out they'll surely kill me." He hissed at Avis.

"Why do you want to free me?" Avis asked.

"Because it's the least I can do. You're right. I've never done anything for anybody except my brother. But I've never really done anything for myself. I've only done things for Ignazio because I can't refuse him anything. He raised me when our parents died and always told me that when I was a fully grown Charizard I'd be able to pay him back. He expects me to follow all of his orders without question. He's also a lot bigger and stronger than I am. What am I supposed to do if he were to get angry with me? I can't fight back. But despite all that I'm here trying to do something good for once." He told Avis.

Avis nodded. "That's noble of you. But the way I see it you shouldn't even try to set me free. Your brother won't be happy if you ruin his chance for power. In return of your kindness I'm going to say please don't let me go. Instead long after I'm gone please do something noble for my friends. Your brother is just using you. If you never stand up to him then you'll never be free of him."

Egon was shocked. "But you've got a chance to go free! Why won't you just take it?" His mouth had dropped open.

Avis shook his head sadly. "There's never been any hope for an escape. You're brother's monitoring the skies and even if I got past him the Persians would alert him of my escape. I'd lead him right back to Derak even if I had a head start. Besides he'd surely over take me."

Egon had tears coming to his eyes. That wasn't right at all. "But that's not fair! You've always been so good and now you're just letting yourself die!" He cried out as tears poured down his face.

Avis had a single tear fall down his face. "Don't worry about me. Just please all I ask of you is to change your ways. You'll know when the time is right. Just please help my friends." He pleaded.

Egon nodded his head in respect. "I will. I promise." He took his clawed hand and shook Avis's partially available talon.

"You know. I didn't know you too well and I won't get the chance to get to know you much better but I think that we could've been great friends." Avis said.

Egon smiled but his eyes filled with tears once more. "I didn't know you well but I think you're the only thing close to a friend I've ever had."

"You're a good pokemon Egon. I saw that from the beginning. Now go and change guards so you don't have to see anything that happens to me." He told him.

Egon nodded. "I promise to stand by my promise to you no matter what." He said before turning around and looking for the Persian guard once more. His plan was to say that he'd made a mistake with the orders he was given.

Avis watched him go and smiled. He knew that he could trust Egon to stick to his word.

* * *

The Absols had spent the night in a field of tall grass. Most had managed to get to sleep but some had only tossed and turned in vain. Derak was one such Absol. He tossed for the umpteenth time before a white paw was placed gently on his back.

"Just relax Derak." Abha said sleepily. He turned to face her.

"I can't help it. We're really in a mess this time. We've got no shelter and I'm so worried about our pack. Especially you and Ines. You're both pregnant. If anything happened to the unborn cubs or you two because of me then I'd be beside myself with grief." He said worriedly.

"Don't worry. We'll all be fine. Just go to sleep. You need rest and I'm sure that you'll think of something soon." She nuzzled him gently. He accepted the nuzzle gratefully. Finally sleep began to set into Derak after Abha had calmed him down and he was gently snoring soon enough.

Abha bit her lip as she had he own fears. She got up as quietly as possible to go somewhere alone and think. She found a secluded patch of grass and sat. She looked down at her slightly swollen stomach and placed a gentle paw on it. She was excited to have a baby but there was something nagging at the back of her mind.

A rustle in the bushes behind her caught her attention. She looked behind her to see Ines walking into the bushes. She smiled at her friend as she sat down beside her.

"Evening Ines." Abha said. Ines laughed gently.

"More like morning. You shouldn't be up this late, it's dangerous." Ines said.

"I couldn't sleep." Abha said simply. They sat in silence for awhile before Abha spoke up.

"Do you ever wonder about your baby?" She asked quietly. Ines perked up an eyebrow.

"What do you mean?" She asked.

"Well it is _his_ son or daughter right?" Abha asked. Ines widened her eyes, catching on to who _he _was.

Ines looked thoughtful. "Well for awhile I was so frightened. But then once he was gone I knew I had nothing to fear. It is Wasaki's offspring but it doesn't have to be Wasaki. He isn't Wasaki. I will love him unconditionally no matter what. I just hope that the others in the pack will accept him."

"Him? How do you know it's a him already?" Abha asked with a smile.

Ines smiled back. "I just know. What do you think you're having?" She asked.

Abha sighed sadly. Ines looked thoughtful when she didn't get an answer. "Hey there. What's bothering you?" She asked.

"Well it's just that…I'm worried." She replied. "I don't know what my offspring will be. I'm so confused as to who the father is going to be."

Ines widened her eyes. "You mean?"

"Yes. Wasaki might be the father of my offspring. I had to do it. I had to agree to be his mate in order to make things a little easier for the pack. And being a mate comes with certain err responsibilities. Well that's what he told me anyways." Abha said as tears came to her eyes.

Ines rested her head on Abha's neck. "It's going to be okay. Even if Wasaki is the father Derak would never leave you or the child. He'd stand by your side." She comforted her.

Abha sighed. "Thanks Ines. It's good to have you as a friend. We should be getting back now."

"Okay let's go then. You sure you okay?" She asked.

"Yeah I'm sure. Thanks again." Abha said as they both started walking out of the bushes and back to the sleeping pack.

Abha found Derak and settled down beside him. She buried her face into his mane and fell back into a deep sleep.

The next morning Derak woke up at sunrise. The pack was also rising by the time he was fully awake.

"We've got to find shelter and safety. I think that's our main priority at the moment. Then we can see about what's going on with our attackers." Derak said as they gathered around him.

"But where will we go?" An Absol asked.

"I know of another Absol pack. They're much larger than us after all the members we've lost so hopefully they won't mind taking us in. The leader was a friend of my father's." Derak said.

They Absols had to walk through a large forest in order to get to the boundaries of the other pack grounds. Unlike Derak's grounds these had very small cliffs and were primarily covered in forest with no fields. There was also a small lake in the center of the lush grounds. In all they were very nice grounds.

"Who are you?" An Absol demanded as the group stood at the border. Derak stood up straight.

"I am Derak. I am the alpha of the lands south of here. I was hoping to speak with your leader. He was an old friend of my father, Ragnar." The Absol looked at him suspiciously.

"The leader you speak of died a short time ago. His own son rules here now." He said.

"I'm sorry to hear that. But may I speak to your leader. We mean no harm. As you can see our numbers are small and we are weak from little food." Derak said.

The Absol didn't lose his suspicious look but gave in. "Fine. Follow me." He said roughly. The group of Absols lead by Derak followed the Absol. Other Absols from the pack gave the visitors suspicious looks. They didn't seem like a friendly bunch. Finally they reached a large den made of woven sticks and branches.

"This is where our leader lives. His name is Malo however you shall address him as Sir. Also the others you've brought must remain out here. We can't take any chances." The Absol instructed.

Derak nodded his thanks and started to move inside. He felt a little nervous about leaving his pack so he gave Abha a quick nuzzle to show her to be brave and try to keep them out of danger. He walked into the den and saw an Absol sitting in the darkness.

Clearing his throat he slid into a bow. "Good Morning Sir." He said respectfully. The Absol turned around to face him before walking into the light. Derak could see him clearly. He was shocked to find that he was younger than Derak was. His mane was barely fully grown.

"Rise. Who might you be?" He asked. His face held no expression as he looked at Derak.

"I am Derak. Son of Ragnar. I am the alpha of the pack south of here." He said.

The Absol flicked his eyes up for a second as if thinking. "South of here you say. I received an Absol who came from a pack south of here just yesterday. He said that the pack grounds were burnt down by a pair of Charizards. Is that the same pack that you lead?" He asked.

Derak nodded. "Yes that's my pack. We were attacked and we were hoping that you could provide us with shelter. We'll find our own food off your lands and we won't bother your pack members. You are our last hope right now." Derak told him.

"I'm sorry to here about your situation but the Absol, Pollard I believe his name was, said that the Charizards were coming for you and would stop at nothing to destroy you. Even if that meant destroying everything around you." Malo said.

Derak's eyes widened. "Please. It's only for a short time. My mate, she's pregnant and so is another female in my pack. My father was good friends with your father. He often spoke highly of him." He was pleading now.

"Let's call in the other Absol. I'll need his input to make my decision." Malo said before calling to the Absol who had escorted Derak and his pack in. Shortly afterwards Pollard was brought in. He smirked at Derak as he passed.

"You called for me Sir." He said haughtily.

"Yes. This is Derak the alpha of your pack correct?" He asked.

"Yes Sir."

"And why did you leave?" Malo asked.

"This leader here has a large army of pokemon after him and was offering us no protection. He is a terrible leader." He said before smirking at Derak.

"I saved you! I saved you from a tyrant leader how could you even stand there and call me such things!" Derak hissed.

"Silence both of you." Malo said. He turned to Derak. "You don't seem like a bad leader or a bad pokemon. But the fact remains that you have enemies after you. I don't know why they're after you but I can't keep my pack in danger. You cannot stay." He said.

Derak lowered his scythe sadly. "However I do have a proposal for you." Malo said.

Derak's ears perked up. "What kind of proposal?" He asked.

"You said that you had expecting females. I am not heartless. I will offer those females and any other hurt or injured or frightened Absols shelter. But I am sorry that you are not allowed to remain here."

Derak nodded. "That is more than fair. I truly appreciate your offer. Would I be allowed to go conference it with my pack?"

"Yes. Take your time." Malo said.

"Thank you Sir." Derak said before trotting out of the cave. He gave Pollard who was sulking a triumphant smirk. However he knew that some goodbyes were ahead of him and that they wouldn't be easy. He walked towards where his pack was waiting. Abha walked forward.

"What did he say?" She asked worriedly as she saw the grim expression on his face.

"He said that I cannot stay-" He started to tell her. Worried looks set in on everybody's faces.

"-but he is graciously offering shelter to anyone who needs it. That means that Ines and Abha are going to stay here and get shelter. Also anyone who wants to stay here and be safe is more then welcome." He said.

Everyone still looked worried. Abha stepped forward closer to his face. "I'm not staying. If you're leaving then I'm going to follow you anywhere." She said boldly.

"No. You're staying. It's safe here and right now I need to handle this myself." He told her.

"You can't handle this yourself! This is huge and you're just one Absol!" She said angrily.

"You're staying and that's final!" He said angrily. "Ines too. Everyone else decide what you want to do quickly because I don't want to endanger anyone any longer! I'm the alpha here and that's how it goes!" He ordered.

Abha stomped off growling and took her place back in the pack. Derak hadn't wanted to yell or pull the I'm-the-leader-listen-to-me trick but he wanted her to be safe. Several Absols, the ones who were going to stay, moved to where she sat. Ines followed and soon only eight Absols, a mix of five males and three females, were left going with Derak.

"Thank you." He told them gratefully.

Malo walked out of the den. "Who is going to be staying?" He asked.

"That group right there. There's nine there. I hope that's not too much." He said.

"That's fine. Have you said your goodbyes yet? I don't want to rush you." He said.

Derak shook his head no and Malo nodded before walking back into his cave. The Males going with Derak said goodbye to their mates if they had them and the females who were going were going with their mates. The ones staying were either too old too fight or too weak.

He approached Abha. She turned her back to him. "Please don't let me leave on a bad note."

She growled but turned around to face him. "You're selfish! Leaving your mate expecting. Do you expect me to raise our offsring fatherless?" She growled.

"I'm just trying to do what's best for you." He said.

"You're trying to run away again. You think that if you out run the Charizards then they'll lose interest. But that won't work this time. They will track you down to the end of the earth and you're leaving yourself open by leaving us here. You just want to run away from your problems again!" she accused him angrily.

"That's not true! I've gotten a lot of crap in the last few days but I wouldn't have expected it from you!" He snarled. She was getting on his nerves. Whether it was the pregnancy or not she shouldn't have said that.

"Go. Go on then. Do what you want." She said before walking away angrily.

"Fine!" He shouted and turned around angrily. He walked over to Malo.

"Thank you for your kindness. I will be leaving now Sir." Derak said.

"It's no problem. Good luck Derak." He told him. Derak nodded and turned to get his remaining followers. Rounding them up they started to leave. Derak looked back one last time but was met with sorrow as he saw that Abha was there. His heart felt like it had twisted up but it was better this way. She'd be safe. And hopefully she'd realize that sometime.

* * *

Egon knew that they'd be taking Avis down anytime now. It was almost dark and the Persians would be getting hungry. It just wasn't fair that Avis had to meet his end this way. Or any way at all.

He sighed as a Persian walked up to him. "You're Egon right?" He asked.

"Who wants to know." He said disinterestedly.

"Well Andromeda told me to tell you that you're brother would be away for awhile. He had to do a task for her. He's going to go find Derak." The Persian informed him before leaving.

At first Egon felt anger that his brother had to go take down another good pokemon but then realized something. Ignazio was gone. Ignazio was gone with no contact with the Persians for awhile.

Egon leapt to his feet and spread his wings. There was no time to lose. He would do something noble for once without fear of his brother finding out right away. He roared and took to the air hoping that it wasn't too late for Avis.

* * *

Authoresses Note: Well there's the chapter. Expect the next one out shortly. I have a lot of time on my hands now. I hope you enjoyed. 


	5. Rage

Heart's Like The Tides: Chapter 5 – Rage

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon.

Authoresses Note: Here's chapter five. I am SO sorry for the wait. I am trying a new method for my other stories and it's been quite successful. I'm updating more frequently even. The new method is to slightly cut down the size of the chapter. At the same time it also stops me from droning on just to fill space. They won't be super short but I'll cut them down and possibly manage to get two out in a few days time. I'm glad people are enjoying the sequel but I wouldn't say no to a few more reviews hinthint. No I'm just joking. Just review when you want. It's up to you. Enjoy. Once again I apologize for any inconvenience I caused by not updating.

* * *

Egon flew as fast as he could towards the tree where Avis was bound up. His landing was rough and his feet hit the ground ungracefully. Grunting at the pain he looked at the tree and his heart sank. The ropes and chains that once had Avis bound were now strewn across the ground. Avis was gone.

He looked around wildly. He couldn't have escaped it was impossible. That only left…

"THE PERSIANS!" He cried. He swung his headed wildly and roared a powerful roar.

It was a deep and mighty roar that came from the very essence of his being. He felt a wave of anger at the Persians who had threatened the life of Avis. They were about to kill someone very close to him even though he had only just met him. He had never felt friendship before now. The Persians had placed his only friend in grave danger, he wouldn't stand for that. They were threatening to take something so very dear away from him. They'd pay.

He spread his wide wings and shot into the air like a jet. He listened carefully and followed the source of all the joyous sounds the Persians and they're comrades were making. He growled deeply in his throat and his pupils dilated out of the anger which was coursing through his veins like poison.

He could see them all now from his spot in the air. He could also see Avis who was, to his immense relief, alive. He was looking defiant and refusing to show fear at his impending doom. Egon could also make out Andromeda making speeches from a podium-like rock. He growled when he saw her. She was in league with his older brother.

He roared once more and took a deep dive. The Persians looked around in confusion for the source of the noise and when they looked up and realized he was over top of them they ran away screeching with their tails held low to the ground.

Andromeda was one of the first to dash off. She grabbed a young Meowth as she left. Egon was too blind with rage to notice however. Several Persians had stayed behind to try and take him down but all of them were unsuccessful as he killed each and every one who stayed behind to defy him.

"Fools." He hissed as he looked at the bodies surrounding him. As the 'rage' attack died down however his anger was slowly replaced with fear.

Avis looked at him wide eyed as Egon slowly backed away from the carnage he had wrought.

He looked at the bird, gapping mouthed, and tried to speak but nothing came out. Avis struggled with his bindings but finally managed to wiggle himself loose. He padded over to Egon who fell backwards onto his rear in shock.

"It's okay. Really. You were just doing what you had to." Avis said to try and calm him down.

"I-I'm a monster." Egon managed to choke out. "I let my anger control me. Just like my brother."

"You're not your brother. You don't kill for the hell of it. You did all that to save my life didn't you?" He asked.

"Well yes but I still killed them without much thought." He said.

"But it was for a slightly more noble reason. Besides they were trying to kill you too if you didn't notice and they had you out numbered." Avis laughed.

Egon chuckled weakly and got to his feet once more. He looked to the sky. "We have to get going before my brother returns to find that you've gone and that I've gone turncoat." He said uneasily.

They both simultaneously spread their wings and took flight. For awhile they flew in silence as they got their bearings and figured out the way back to Derak.

"Thanks for coming back for me." Avis said as they achieved a good speed.

"It's no problem. Well actually it's a big problem but it was the right thing to do." Egon chuckled.

Avis laughed at this as well and the two flew in silence once more.

* * *

Wasaki found being with a trainer wasn't so bad at all. He gradually had warmed up to Annette and as soon as he had been healed he had shown signs of battle lust. He had sat on the sidelines and watched his teammates duke it out but he had never really gotten to try it yet. Now that Nurse Joy had said he was battle fit he was more than eager to participate in a match and Annette was more than happy to oblige.

The first battle he had won had been a breeze. It had been a tag team with him and Maleah. They worked well together on and off the battle field. Soon he had had a number of battles and was so far undefeated. They had started traveling again and were soon facing all sorts of people.

They were now heading towards the human village of Fortree. They were still quite ways away, closer to Mauville at this point, so they had a lot of ground to cover before they would even come close to Fortree. The road had turned to dirt and soon they had to cut through more and more tall grass. However it didn't stop them from having a couple of battles with people they met along the way.

This was one of those times. A slightly older trainer had approached them for a three on three battle. Annette accepted in a second and soon she had sent out Ayana the Roselia to face the other trainers Tangela. The battle went quite well for Ayana and she made quick work of the Tangela using a sludge bomb.

Maleah and Wasaki watched from the sidelines. Annette usually kept the two out of their pokeballs because it was easy for the quadrupeds to get around on foot. The next pokemon was a large Flareon so Annette sent out Maleah. The Flareon seemed to be a powerful battler so it took slightly more for Maleah to take it down. It had taken Maleah's secret move, dig, to finally bring down the heavy set pokemon.

The older trainer took out a final pokeball and looked at it for a second.

"This is my last pokemon. He's a bit on the depressed side so this battle may go by quickly. But I see you have an Absol as well so it may be healthy to have some same species competition. Either way I choose you, Absol." He threw the pokemon and his own Absol materialized on the ground.

"This one is yours." Annette called to Wasaki. He walked onto the battling area when he noticed the other Absol looked very familiar.

The Absol was a male as well. He did have the forlorn look the trainer had said but as he looked up and noticed Wasaki had entered the field he too was filled with recognition.

And he wasn't happy to see Wasaki.

"YOU!" He snarled as he saw Wasaki standing before him. He bared his teeth in a wide and feral snarl. The skin on his nose was wrinkled and marring his face with anger.

"Sacha-" Wasaki started to say sincerely but was cut off with a roar, no, a howl of anger and agony.

"You…You monster! You had her killed! You killed my mate and unborn son!" He roared.

"I'm…I'm sorry. I was blind." Wasaki could only say. What could he say? There wasn't anything he could do to console the furious Absol he once considered his friend.

"YOU ARE NOT SORRY!" Sacha roared. The trainers looked on worriedly at the normally calm Absol whose fur was now bristling and standing on end. "YOU ARE A MERCILESS KILLER! AND I'LL MAKE YOU FEEL PAIN!" He howled before dashing, shoulders hunched and teeth and claws bared, straight at Wasaki.

Wasaki wasn't expecting it. He was caught completely off guard when Sacha collided with him. He tried to fight off the oncoming teeth and claws but Sacha had murder lust in his eyes.

Wasaki was soon helpless and on his back with his belly vulnerable to attack. Sacha suddenly stopped, his face inches from Wasaki's, and he leaned down to look him straight in the eyes.

"You're worthless without your big friends to help you aren't you Wasaki?" He taunted. "You're just a weak and scared pokemon. Do you new friends know of your murdering days?"

Wasaki was frozen with fear. His heart was racing. Sacha growled in his throat.

"DO THEY?!" He barked angrily. Finally Wasaki shook his head slowly.

Sacha gave a grunt. "You're pathetic. You couldn't even tell them. Were you going to become a dictator over them too? You disgust me." He growled.

Wasaki was starting to get angry. He didn't want Maleah to hear what Sacha was saying but he was sure that she had heard and was too shocked to come and help him fight.

"You shut up." Wasaki growled. "I apologized-" He started to say but Sacha struck him so hard across the face that he felt warm blood trickle down his cheek immediately.

Wasaki responded by kicking up with his legs and pushing Sacha off. As he flipped over to try and get to his feet again he felt a sudden weight on his back where Sacha had landed. Wasaki roared in pain as he felt Sacha's teeth finding their way to his neck and his claws digging into his sides where he was clinging to him.

He started to buck in order to knock Sacha off but he wouldn't relinquish his powerful grip. Wasaki started to feel woozy as blood was drawn from the numerous wounds that Sacha had made.

Finally, right before he passed out, he felt Sacha knocked off him by another pokemon.

"Maleah." He managed to whisper before passing out.

* * *

Derak and his small company had moved far beyond Malo's boundaries. They were tired and hungry and had hardly stopped for a break. Finally one of the younger males collapsed from exhaustion after walking for nearly two days straight. Derak approached him and nudged him. The young male whimpered out of hunger.

Derak knew that if they didn't get food soon they'd all die but they had to keep moving or else they'd be sitting ducks for the Charizards.

"We have to keep going. Just until we find food and safety." Derak nudged him back to his feet. He stood uneasily for a few seconds before starting to walk again. Derak nuzzled him encouragingly to give him hope.

"Where will we find safety?" One of the females asked tiredly.

Derak didn't know how to respond. He didn't want to give them false hope but he also didn't want to tell them that they had no where safe to go. There was Mount Wolfe but he didn't want to intrude on Kegan's hospitality once more. He had already done so much for Derak. He also didn't want to bring danger to the dog pokemon again.

"I don't know. I wish I could tell you and I wish I had answers but I honestly don't know." Derak said, feeling defeated.

"That's okay." The male who had fallen spoke up. Derak looked towards him. "We all knew what going with you included and we'll follow and trust you Derak."

Derak smiled at him and the others as they nodded in agreement. He suddenly felt stronger as he had the trust and confidence of his loyal friends with him. A rustling in the bushes broke the moment. All heads turned to the bush where the sound had come. They all jumped back and got into a defensive pouncing mode as about twelve pokemon emerged from the bushes and hanging out of the trees.

They opened their mouths is horror at the species that stood before them.

* * *

Authoresses Note: A cliff hanger but I promise it won't be long for an update. I won't put you through months of waiting again. 


	6. First Meetings and Reunions

Heart's Like The Tides: Chapter 6 – First Meetings and Reunions

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon.

Authoresses Note: Here's Chapter 6, enjoy it. It's all about Derak so expect the next chapters to contain the other plot lines and the other characters that haven't been seen for awhile. Leave your thoughts if you'd like.

* * *

They stood in terror yet they refused to show external fear to the monsters that now faced them. By appearance they were about the size of an Absol only much worse. They were red and black stripped with four yellow and black stripped legs and on their backs were another two leg like appendages. They possessed a stinger on their forehead and rear end and had an insect like sideways mouth. 

But what were worse were their eyes. Their eyes were large looked as if they were made up of many smaller eyes. They were giant spiders and they grossly outnumbered the small Absol pack. Derak feared that this would be the end of them. Now he would never see his beloved Abha again. Or his unborn child. A deep sorrow clasped his heart as he thought of the terms on which he and Abha left each other.

No one spoke as the two groups of pokemon faced each other in a shootout style. Silence seemed to overtake the entire forest until finally the largest of the spiders, presumably the leader, stepped forward to the front and opened his mouth to speak.

"I am very glad that you are here, powerful Absol Derak." He said in a deep voice with the occasional click of his mouth before sinking into a low bow by spreading his front legs widely. The other spider-like pokemon did the same.

The Absols were all confused. A moment ago they had been standing in terror of the large arachnids and now they were being bowed before.

As the group of pokemon rose once more Derak spoke directly to the leader.

"Thanks but may I ask how you know me?" He asked kindly but with underlying suspicion.

The pokemon nodded. "I apologize. But before I explain the entire story of how you are known in my pack I believe you would be more comfortable if you and your friends were given proper nourishment." He clicked his mouth suddenly and two spiders walked forward dragging a large form in a web. They withdrew the web and left the freshly killed Stantler in front of the group of ravenously hungry Absols.

"We'll leave you to your meal. After you've finished you can decide whether you wish to leave with full stomachs or hear what we have to say. Our colony lives just into the dense part of these woods. You can enter them by coming in straight ahead. I promise that no one from the colony will cause you or your friends any harm.

"Thank you." Derak said as his teammates started to tear at the unfortunate kill's flesh. "But may I know your name first?"

"I am Zeus, leader of the Ariados. I hope that we shall get a chance to speak with one another." He said before clicking his mouth once more and retreating back into the foliage, his colony following behind him.

"This kill is fresh Derak. Come and eat your fill." One of the males said as he ripped off a large chunk.

Derak was very curious about these pokemon. They had just given him and his team an entire kill that must've taken several colony members to take down. Surely if they wanted to harm them then they would've attacked while they were weak and underfed. He pushed these thoughts aside as his hunger took over his brain and the smell of the delicious kill was overwhelming. He dug in with the others and soon enough they were completely full and only the deer pokemon's skeleton remained.

Derak stood facing the entrance to the portion of the forest that Zeus had directed him.

"Should we go Derak?" A female asked him.

He paused for a moment before nodding. "They gave us food, plenty of it even, when we were vulnerable. We should have the manners to hear them out. I'll go ahead though. The rest of you stay here just in case." He said.

He started to walk in but the others followed anyways. He stopped and turned around.

"If you think we're leaving you then you're crazy. We're all in this together." One of the younger members spoke up. Derak smiled.

"Okay. You can come. But if anything happens then don't try and be a hero and save me, got it?" He asked.

They contemplated it but finally after his stare they nodded.

"Good. Now follow closely behind me." The small group of Absols followed in a tight knit group but as the forest became more and more dense they were forced to slightly move out. Finally they were met with the eyes of the Ariados which they followed until they reached a clearing.

The group couldn't help but gasp. They had assumed a large group of Ariados that they had met along the side of the forest had been the entire colony. But now they appeared to only be a small fraction. The clearing was huge. Ariados were everywhere. Some were hanging in trees by a silky thread coming from their rears and some were with smaller and green versions of themselves, presumably their unevolved forms.

They stood in shock before Zeus approached them once more. Derak hadn't actually noticed him approaching because he blended in with the rest of the Ariados. Once he was closer Derak could easily recognize him though. He was much larger than the average Ariados.

"I'm glad that you came Derak." He said in his deep voice.

"I brought my team if that's okay. And thanks for the food. We appreciate it greatly." Derak replied.

"That was no problem. As you can see there are many of us and we have plenty of able hunters." He said as he swept one of the appendages on his back around the clearing.

"You said that you were going to explain how you know of me. Could you tell me?" Derak asked.

Zeus nodded his head. "If you'll all just follow me then I'll tell you everything." He said before scuttling off. Derak trotted behind him and the others followed behind Derak. They reached another clearing off to the side except this one was much quieter due to the lack of clicking made by the hundreds of Ariados in the large clearing.

Ariados moved himself into a lying position and the others did the same. He sighed heavily.

"It's hard having so many of us in one place so small." He said sadly.

Derak was curious. "How come you don't go and find more room? I'm sure there are other places that you can all fit." He suggested.

Zeus chuckled slightly. "If only it were that simple. We used to have vast lands. Lands that were full of water and space. We lived comfortably once upon a time." He said sadly.

"What happened to them?" A male Absol spoke up. Zeus looked up at him with the crystal-like eyes.

"They were seized from us. The lands of my ancestors were stolen out from under us by a greedy pokemon named Akoni." He explained. The Absols all gasped.

"Akoni the Persian? He was killed last month! Surely you can return to your lands now?" Derak asked.

"We would love to go back. And we know he was killed. Word of your story has traveled far and wide. You have become an inspiration to us here. We couldn't fight, we were dreadfully outnumbered by his followers and we were forced into this tiny place." He said bitterly.

"Outnumbered? But there must be hundreds of you here! You could take out the Persians no problem." Derak exclaimed.

Zeus gave a sad laugh. "You haven't seen anything when it comes to the Persians yet. In your battle you faced only a portion of the Persians who worked for Akoni. However those Persians are just a small part of the large empire Akoni had built for himself. He has many powerful allies from all sorts of pokemon types. We would never stand a chance against them alone. We had to come here and live in less than ideal conditions. We thought we'd have to live out the rest of our colony's life here until we had heard of you and your feat." He said warmly to Derak and the eight Absols.

"How do you know about that?" Derak asked curiously.

"It has traveled very far Derak. Through the bird pokemon and the forest dwellers the news has been carried far and wide. You have brought us renewed hope Derak. We're not the only pack of pokemon that Akoni had defeated. There are plenty of packs and colonies that are in need of a true leader who can lead us all to freedom from the Persians clutches."

"Wait? Did you say a leader?" Derak asked suddenly. At Zeus's nod he continued. "But I can't lead an _entire_ army. And are you saying you want to take on the entire Persian empire?" He asked with wide eyes.

"Every empire must fall." He said simply.

Derak looked taken aback. A male Absol spoke up. "That's impossible! If you and your colony could not even fare against these monster army then how can we? Who would join us?!" He questioned.

"Do you know how many packs have been oppressed by the Persians and their followers? Countless. They've been forced out of their rightful lands so that Akoni and his faithful pack leaders could take them over for themselves. Leaders from various types and pokemon species have been targeted by Akoni for being particularly evil or power hungry or greedy. He did the same to one of your members, did he not?"

The eight Absols behind Derak nodded and one female mouthed 'Wasaki' to the one beside her.

"There's been a war in the making for many years now. Akoni has left us all in such an unstable state that few packs have been untouched by his power. Let me ask you something Derak, do you want to join me and lead us? Do you want to do something about the current state of our world?" Zeus asked seriously.

The eight behind him held their breaths as Derak went silent. They couldn't see his face but they could tell he was thinking deeply by the look in Zeus's eyes who were watching his face closely.

Did he want to do something? Or better yet was he prepared to risk everything for the greater good of the world?

After a long pause he looked up, face full of fierce determination.

"I want to do something." He said boldly.

The eight behind him smiled. They would stay with him all the way.

Zeus clicked his mouth happily. "Great!" He exclaimed. "I have much to tell you about the various packs to watch out for and about whom we should be trying to win over."

Derak was about to speak up when a sudden familiar pokemon cry came from the skies. It was a screech that they had heard many times and they had hoped they would hear again. Derak smiled as his old friend landed beside him, safe and sound, but his smile fell as he saw the large orange dragon that stood at nearly six feet. He landed beside Avis and gave Derak a small yet toothy grin.


	7. Wasaki Part I

Broken Honor and Armour: Wasaki's Tale – Part I

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon.

Authoresses Note: Sooooooo sorry for the long wait. Due to slight writers block on the main storyline I have decided to finish up Wasaki's tale in a few parts before continuing with the main story. It's a little confusing to have him jump around in the story so I'll clean it up now. Here's part one, enjoy. Oh and I have a request of you all but I'll tell you at the end of the chapter.

* * *

Wasaki, with some coaxing from the hyper potions he was being given, finally came to. Opening his eyes he found himself face to face with a worried looking Annette. He gave a groan and tried to lift his painful body but her hands gently pushed him back down.

"Easy boy, just lay down for a bit. You had quite the scuffle there." She said soothingly. He gratefully obeyed and lowered himself slowly.

He couldn't remember for a moment why he was in such pain, all he could think about was how he felt like a rampaging Onix had ran him over, but as soon as he heard Annette start mumbling about how some people couldn't control their pokemon his memory jolted.

Sacha.

Sacha had fought him, and almost destroyed him at that. What's more is that he had shouted out incriminating information about Wasaki's little mentioned past to his new team.

To Maleah.

Once again he tried to lift himself back up and once again Annette attempted to stop him. This time however he resisted against her hands and brought himself into a shaky standing position.

"You sure your okay?" She asked worriedly, but in her eyes they both knew that he wasn't staying down either way.

He grunted his affirmative and sniffed the air. Picking up the scent of his teammates he followed it about sixty yards in front of him. They were sitting in a clearing in the tall grass. He slowed down just as he approached the outside of them, he didn't want to come too close just yet.

They all turned at the same time to look at him. Ayana and Kinesis gave him slightly fearful expressions, Shiva was giving him a look of curiousity, but Maleah was giving him a depressed and downhearted look. He knew that they knew now.

He gave a sigh, "Look, I know what you heard-" He started to say but Maleah cut him off, looking suddenly angry.

"Yeah. We _heard_. Not told by our teammate. Not confided in, heard. We heard from a passing Absol who was trying to kill you. Don't you think you could've warned us, your team, of any Pokemon you may have provoked? Don't you think that we could've been in danger? Did you ever think of that?" She growled at him.

There was a silence for a moment before he lowered his head. "No, I didn't think of that." He said sadly.

"I thought not." She sniffed angrily. She turned around, swishing her long tails for dramatic effect, and stalked off with Ayana and Kinesis following silently.

He was at loss for words. In truth, he hadn't thought of that but at the same time he didn't want them to know. He had known the truth would have made them hate him.

"He said you were a dictator, is that true?" A deep and rough voice asked. Wasaki looked up to see Shiva lying on the grass.

"It _was _true, it's not anymore." Wasaki said. Shiva gave a low grunt.

"I know where you're coming from." He said quietly. "When I was about ten years younger and ten years more reckless I decided to challenge the current leader of our Sharpedo school, my own cousin. I don't know why I did it anymore, I suppose at the time I considered him weak and gentle. He was gentle, but he was a good leader because of it, he didn't get into petty battles with other schools over trivial things like most leaders. In fact he didn't even want to fight me, he said that I could take any followers I had and leave if we desired."

Wasaki looked at him. "Did you leave?" He asked.

The Sharpedo laughed sadly. "No, I had no followers. They knew I would be a ruthless leader so no one supported me. Instead I did the worst possible thing a Sharpedo could do."

"What did you do?" Wasaki asked curiously.

"The most dishonorable thing a Sharpedo could do. I attacked him without warning and without any time to defend himself. I shot forward while he was telling me to take some other Sharpedos if I wanted and attacked him. He didn't even see it coming, in fact no one did. No one even noticed until the water turned clouded with red from the wound on his neck." He said this all with the utmost regret etched on his face.

"How did you escape then?" Wasaki asked.

"I didn't. They all attacked me at once. But they didn't attack to kill. They attacked to inflict the most pain. I had done the most dishonorable thing and deserved the most dishonorable death. They were to attack me until I was near death and then leave me for dead. Let something else finish me off. But instead of a hungry Pokemon smelling freshly spilled blood Annette found me. She captured me and nursed me back to health."

"Have you ever gone back?" Wasaki asked, "To apologize?"

He laughed sadly again. "No, of course not. I have been stripped of my honor and my dignity. I am an outcast and if I showed my face out there again they would not hesitate to kill me straight out. Just like you it appears." He pointed out.

Wasaki nodded sadly. "I want to go back. I don't care if they kill me, I want to go back and tell them I'm sorry. But my words are meaningless, I too lost my honor and turned on my on kin and species. I don't know how to get it back."

"You have more courage than I do. I refuse to swim in oceans. Annette has tried to get me to swim but I always refuse. I am no longer worthy to swim where my proud species swims. But you do have a way. That other Absol, the one who attacked you, I know a way you can at least do him a favor."

Wasaki's ears perked up, "You do? But how? The only thing I would like to do is be forgiven. It's been eating away at me and it's going to destroy me sooner or later."

Shiva nodded, "That Absol was taken away by the police. He was muzzled and tranquilized and removed from his trainers care. They said he was going to be put down."

"Put down?" Wasaki asked curiously but with growing dread.

"Killed. They are going to kill him, he is considered a danger to other Pokemon and himself." Shiva explained gravely.

"But he CAN'T be killed! It was all my fault!" Wasaki cried out.

"You can always stop it." Shiva pointed out. "They took him in that direction. I can't help you because I can't walk there obviously. But this is something I think you'll agree that you have to go on your own anyways."

Wasaki nodded. "I know, I have to do this myself. Thanks for all your help."

He turned in the direction that Shiva pointed out. It was down a dirt path. Without any hesitation he broke into long strides and took off down the path.

"Maybe you'll think better of me after this Maleah. Maybe I can set things right now." He thought to himself and took off faster as he go a hold of the scent and followed it wherever it would take him.

Maleah found Shiva lying by himself in the clearing. Wasaki was no where in sight and Annette was panicking.

* * *

"Shiva, have you seen Wasaki?" She asked.

"Perhaps, but you won't find him here." He said mysteriously.

"What do you mean?" She asked suspiciously.

"He's off to go do something that he's been meaning to do, don't worry about him. He'll be back in awhile."

"What?! Where did he go?" She cried.

"To go save that other Absol and his honor and pride." He informed her.

Maleah sighed, this could only turn out badly, "Alright. So he's gone? As in, we're all going to worry about him until he's completed his 'task'?" She asked.

"Yes." He said simply.

Maleah sighed, "Then I'm going with him. I don't know why and I don't know where he is now but I'll find him."

"You'll do well if you head in that direction." Shiva pointed down the path Wasaki took earlier.

"Thanks, wish us luck." She said before taking off down the path following Wasaki's scent.

* * *

Authoresses Note: There it is, short I know but they'll have more action soon enough, once I get into them.

Oh, and as for my request. I am looking for any number of artists who might be willing to do a request pic. I would love to see a picture of Wasaki, Derak, Abha, Avis, Favian, or any character of your choice. How about it? I'll accept any picture and will link it to my profile so that everyone can view your work. Of course I will not take any credit for the picture, all the credit will be in your name. Do I have any takers? Please contact me via PM if your interested :)


	8. Wasaki Part II

Broken Honour and Armour: Wasaki's Tale – Part II

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon but the original characters in this story are my own creations.

Authoresses Note: Here's the second part of Wasaki's tale this is my last update until the end of march break because I am going on vacation for awhile. Hopefully this should tide you all over for a little bit : ). Anyways, on with the show.

* * *

Wasaki ran at full speed down the dirt road kicking up a trail of dust behind him. Sacha's scent still lingered in the air so he knew he was on the right track. He squinted his eyes as he saw something in the distance. There was a small hill at the end of the road with a wooden sign sticking out of the ground at its base. He put on a final burst of speed before skidding to stop in front of the sign.

Panting, he looked over the sign, trying to make heads or tails of the human language that was written on it.

"Oh well, it's not like I can read anyways." He said aloud to himself before taking a deep breath and darting up the hill.

He gasped when he got to the top of the hill and looked down. It may have seemed like a small hill from the other side but on this side it was the top of a valley. There was a city situated in the middle of the valley, not too far away, and he could smell Sacha's scent coming from it.

"Here goes nothing." He thought before dashing down the hill. He gained a lot of momentum going down hill and he feared that he wouldn't be able to stop when the time arose. The momentum was making him run much faster than he was accustomed to and finally he lost control completely.

"AHHHHHH!" He shouted at the top of his lungs as he tripped over a root and tumbled all the way to the bottom of the hill where he crashed in a tangled heap.

He grit his teeth and he gingerly picked himself up. He winced as he realized that his hind left was cut and bleeding. He tried as best he could to lick it clean but realized he didn't have much time. He had no clue when Sacha would be 'put down' and he shuddered at the very thought. It would soon be sundown so he knew he had to hurry.

He walked in the shadows of the buildings to avoid being detected by people. The city was a fairly small yet quaint one. It had cobblestone roads and old fashioned buildings and also an air of tranquility. There also weren't too many people out so Wasaki had no trouble dodging them.

He searched for quite some time, the scent was starting to fade although Wasaki just knew that Sacha was in here somewhere. But where?

He ducked into an alleyway as he saw a couple of trainers walk by. He waited in the darkness for the path to be clear again when a voice startled him.

"Hiyah trainer's pet. What'cha doing? Hidin' from your master?" A mocking voice sounded from the darkness.

Wasaki whipped around to see a pair of devilish looking eyes viewing him from the darkness. The eyes were the only thing to the Pokemon that was in the alleyway however. The rest of it's body was invisible. If Wasaki weren't a dark himself than he'd have been shocked but he knew that it was just a dark Pokemon using faint attack.

The fur on his back bristled as he showed his teeth in a snarl to try and scare any malevolent intentions that this strange Pokemon might have away.

"What do you want?" He growled.

The show didn't have the effect he desired however for the Pokemon just laughed and made his entire body visible. He was a darkling with a very lithe dark blue body. His hands consisted of two large and sharp claws as did his feet. He also had a red feather like protrusion on his head and three similar feathers as a tail. Feathers were the best word to describe them but they clearly were not real feathers. For one, they looked fairly sharp and they did not look like anything any bird Pokemon Wasaki had ever seen had. He was leaning his back up against the wall with his arms crossed over his chest. He had a grin to match his eyes, devilish and mischievous. The one feather-thing on his head had a distinct curl to it, probably done on purpose.

Wasaki continued to growl but the Pokemon just laughed again, causing Wasaki to actually start to feel angry.

"I'll ask you again. What do you want?" Wasaki growled, pronouncing every word slowly in the last phrase.

The Pokemon gave a haughty sniff. "You trainer pets are all the same. Always thinkin' that everyone you meet in an alleyway is an automatic enemy. Anyone that isn't a trainers pet is below you." He mocked, putting on a show of fake grief. But his face cracked into a wide toothy grin, showing off his sharp teeth.

Before Wasaki could ask what the Pokemon wanted once more he was cut off.

"Yeah, yeah. What do I want? I heard you the first five thousand times. And if you'll notice it's not really a question of what I want but what you're doing in my alleyway. Because clearly I had wanted nothin' to do with you, I don't even know you, and then all of the sudden your big furry ass is in my alley and when I politely ask you what you're doing I get snarled at."

He moved away from the wall he was leaning against and Wasaki took a jump back. What the creature pointed out was true, he hadn't done anything. He didn't know if this creature was threatening or not yet. All he knew was that he certainly didn't want to be caught on this Pokemon's bad side if those big claws were involved.

"Don'cha worry big guy, I'm not goin' to attack you. So you didn't answer my question. Where's your trainer?" He asked.

Wasaki allowed himself to relax although he kept alert in case this Pokemon decided to get nasty.

"I don't have a trainer. Well I do but not here, maybe I'll go back after I finish my task and maybe I won't. I don't know how wanted I am." Wasaki explained. The shadows were growing thicker now as the sun was quickly setting.

"Well, any task you have to complete should be done fast. 'Cause everything is closing up soon." The creature pointed outside the alley, "It's nighttime now."

Wasaki leapt up in alarm. "Crap! I got to go. But I don't even know where to start." Wasaki said, feeling helpless.

The creature only grinned once more. "Relax jumpy." He said in a businesslike voice. "I can help you do exactly what you need, for a fee of course, I have to make a livin' you know." He said while putting his arm around Wasaki's shoulders in a friendly sort of way.

"What kind of fee?" Wasaki asked suspiciously.

The Pokemon grinned, "Glad you asked. You see, I love money. There is nothing like human money. All you have to do is get me a fair amount and I'll help you do whatever you want." He grip felt like it was crushing Wasaki's shoulders.

"Wait! Human money? Where am I supposed to get that?" Wasaki asked.

"Hey don't look at me, you're the trainer's pet. Do we have a deal? I won't even make you pay up front, you can pay me when we're done. But don't even think of making off without payin'. The last guy tried that and lemme tell you he'll never make the mistake of cheating me ever again. So what'cha say?" The Pokemon's eyes glinted.

Wasaki was trapped. He could say no and get away from this potential maniac. Or he could say yes and just get some money off of Annette or someone afterwards. This Pokemon could probably do a good job of breaking out much better than he could and the money shouldn't be too hard to find.

"Alright. I'll accept. But we have to hurry because we don't have much time." Wasaki said.

"You won't regret it trainer's pet." The Pokemon swiftly leapt onto Wasaki's back. Who had no time to react in shock.

"I'll just ride up here, you tell me where you want to go and I'll direct." He clutched onto Wasaki's scythe.

"My name isn't trainer's pet. It's Wasaki. And I need you to help me break out a friend of mine. He's going to be put down." Wasaki explained.

"Alright Wasaki, is your friend a white fuzzball like yourself? I saw some police take him into the Pokemon Center. I know everythin' that happens in this city. The name is Schemer by the way." He said.

"Okay, let's go." Wasaki said before taking off at full speed again, except this time with a small Pokemon clutching onto him.

He skidded to a halt outside the Pokemon Center.

"Not here you dummy! Do you wanna be seen?" Schemer hissed. "Go around the back, I know a secret way in."

Wasaki trotted along the shadows as Schemer hopped off his back and used faint attack to go invisible, well mostly invisible anyways, his eyes were still visible and so was his mouth when he opened it to talk.

"There's a garbage shoot here. It only opens from the inside but in the next couple minutes they'll be sending some down and we can hold it open and slip inside." Just as he finished speaking a rumbling came from the shoot and a couple of bags of garbage spilled out.

Quick as a whip Schemer jumped up and grabbed the shoot open. "Come on, you first. Use your claws to dig into the metal or else you'll slip. And once you get to the end of the tunnel don't push through the door. Wait and I'll slip ahead and make sure no one's coming." He instructed.

He held open the door for Wasaki who, with a little trouble, managed to grab onto the metal with his claws. He climbed up the shoot with Schemer climbing behind him and finally reached a metal door. Like Schemer said he waited and felt his companion slip past him. Schemer put his ear to the door and said, "All clear," before opening it and letting Wasaki in.

Wasaki jumped out of the shoot and sniffed the air. Sacha was definitely in here, he just hoped he wasn't too late.

He turned to Schemer, "Do you know where he's being held?" He asked.

"The basement most likely, that's where they keep 'dangerous' Pokemon. So what is your friend in for? Murder? Arson? I like a good arsonist, they make society a fun place." He said with a sneaky grin.

Before Wasaki could answer or wonder about this Pokemon's mental health Schemer's eyes flashed and he whipped his head up.

"Hide!" He shouted at Wasaki before tackling him into a pile of garbage bags.

* * *

Maleah stopped just outside the city where Wasaki's scent led. She could read human and the sign out front the city said that this place was Nanab Valley. It was named for the abundance of Nanab trees that grew around the parts. She wondered where Wasaki would be and picked up his scent once more before searching him out.

* * *

Authoresses Note: Well there you have it. Oh and by the way, if anyone can guess which show Schemer is from then you win … a prize I have yet to determine XD. He's my favourite character and he's from an old kid's show. Hope you enjoyed. 


	9. Wasaki Part III

Broken Honour and Armour: Wasaki's Tale – Part III

Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

Authoresses Note: Ermmm…. Well, the only thing I can think of saying is sorry. Sorry to everyone who's been waiting. Also, you guys can hate me if you wantfor leaving you hanging for so long.

* * *

Schemer buried Wasaki deep into the garbage pile and quickly followed suit. Footsteps, although slightly muffled by the garbage bags, could be heard moving about the room.

After what felt like ages, the two temporary companions finally felt several more bags be thrown atop them and the footsteps fade out the door. Schemer, being the closest to the top of the pile, was the first to dig himself out. He disdainfully removed a banana peel from the top of his head and stuck his tongue out in disgust at it.

"Blech! Would it kill them to throw a few bags down the chute now and again?" He asked aloud. Schemer tossed the banana peel over his shoulder. Wasaki happened to be, most unfortunately, pulling himself out of the pile immediately behind Schemer, and directly in said peel's path. It landed at his front paws without him noticing.

"If they threw the bags down the chute more often then you and I would've had our asses tossed out." Wasaki pointed out before taking a step forward. As luck would have it, the previously standing Absol now found himself flat on his back, having slipped on the peel. And as Schemer would have it, the previously standing Sneasel was now flat on his back, having laughed terribly hard at the scene that unfolded.

"Bahahahaha! Never mind, if they had thrown out those bags I would've missed that!" He shouted out, all the while howling with laughter. Tears streamed down his face and he was flailing his limbs out in his mirth. Wasaki grunted and pulled himself to his feet. Looking unimpressed, he walked past Schemer with as much dignity as he could muster and started towards the door.

"Alright, take it easy, fuzzy. It was all in good fun. Now allow me to check that the hallway is clear before we continue on." Schemer said as he finally calmed down enough to walk. He slipped under Wasaki's legs and poked his head out the door.

"Alright, all clear." The two stepped out of the room and into the hallway. The sterile scent of Pokemon Centers filled Wasaki's nose. But even through the scent of medicine and antibiotics, Wasaki could still faintly detect Sacha's scent.

"He's this way." Wasaki decided and made to move to the left.

Schemer stopped him. "How can you know that already?" He asked.

Wasaki shrugged. "Every Pokemon has their own distinguishable scent. Every Pokemon in a pack also carries very similar scents to its pack members. Once you've been in a pack, you never forget the scent of any of its members and you never fully lose the scent of that pack. Ever." Wasaki explained.

"I see. But I must tell you, that way is out of bounds. That hallway leads right into the lobby. And they will notice two trainer-less Pokemon walking around right away. We've got to take a detour to get around to the basement, without being spotted." Schemer pointed out.

Wasaki nodded. "And that's where you come in."

Schemer grinned widely, showing off a toothy grin. "That's where I come in." He agreed.

* * *

Maleah's sharp sense of smell led her through all the places that Wasaki had visited. Her final destination appeared to be the city's Pokemon center. This would be a tricky sort of stunt to pull. There weren't many Ninetails in existence and if she were caught it would be impossibly easy to find Annette and return her. She also didn't want to attack any humans, doing so would risk having her put down. What she needed was a cover.

She peeked inside the Pokemon Center and spotted a human mother and child sitting on the waiting bench. The mother was cradling a sneezing Pikachu and the child, who couldn't have been older than eight, was staring at the opposite wall in a bored fashion.

Maleah saw this as an opportunity and continue to watch the pair until the mother was called in. As Maleah hoped, the mother asked the child to wait in the lobby. The second the lobby was free of any nurses, doctors or patients looking in her direction, she bolted through the automatic doors and sat down near the child.

The child was key in making this look convincing. In order to look inconspicuous, which was hard to do for a Ninetails, she had to appear to belong to the child. She would need to receive attention from the child.

She let out a low whine in the child's direction. The child turned her head to stare at the Ninetails. To look docile, Maleah laid her head on her paws. She fanned her tails to show off her beauty and give off a mesmerizing effect. The child was enamored with the beautiful Pokemon and walked up to Maleah slowly. She extended a hand towards Maleah. Maleah accepted the proffered hand with a lick. The child started to pet Maleah's head and Maleah purred out of contentedness.

This would be perfect until Maleah could determine where Wasaki was and how she could get him back.

* * *

Schemer maneuvered Wasaki through the back hallways of the Center. He took him through the older part of the building, the part that was rarely in use anymore.

"Are you sure that we won't get caught?" Wasaki asked worriedly.

"I can't guarantee that." Schemer said nonchalantly.

Wasaki cursed under his breath. "This is taking forever, this Center is bigger than I thought!" He exclaimed.

"Don't worry, we'll make our way just through this doorway here and we'll be at the basement in no time at all." Schemer said, sweeping an arm towards a door on their left.

The two paused for a brief while to listen for any signs of humans in the area. When they deemed it safe, Schemer leapt up and expertly latched onto the doorknob and twisted. The door swung open to reveal a short hallway that ended in another doorway. As Wasaki looked at this door, he realized that this must be the place where they kept Pokemon that would potentially be put down. The door was heavy looking and made of a metal that reminded Wasaki of a Steelix. A complicated lock was also built into it. It gave the aura of a door that was meant to keep whatever was held in the room, away from prying eyes.

"Hmm. Well, this is definitely the basement. I've never actually been down this way. I've had no reason to be down here, so I can say that I've never seen this kind of lock before. But hey, locks were designed so that I could break into them. So here goes nothing." Schemer said while flexing his claws and leaping for the lock.

Wasaki stopped him by gripping one of Schemer's legs gently with his teeth. "Hold up," he said, voice sounding slightly muffled, "We want this to be clean." He dropped Schemer down gently.

The Sneasel picked himself up indignantly, "How do you propose we get in then?" He asked.

Wasaki opened his mouth to answer but stopped suddenly. His ears pricked up and his eyes went wide. He turned to Schemer, who stood frozen before him.

"Shit…" Schemer started as the door leading into the basement hallway opened. A Nurse Joy walked into the small room, carrying a tray with a bottle of clear liquid and syringe on it. She had been heading down to enter the basement when she saw the two Pokemon standing frozen before her.

She screamed as Schemer took a flying leap towards her, claws extended. She swung her body violently against the wall to dodge his sharp talons, only just preventing the contents of the tray from falling. Wasaki acted just as quickly, grabbing the Sneasel in his jaws for the second time to prevent him from damaging anything, or anyone, with his claws.

Wasaki wanted to use his hypnosis but with a thrashing Pokemon in his jaws it was near impossible to cause the nurse to fall asleep before she snapped out of her shock and could run out the door and alert others.

Instead, she did something even more frightening. While Wasaki fought his rabid partner into submission, she jabbed the syringe into the bottle and filled it with liquid. She raised it above her head, poised to strike either of the two Pokemon in front of her, when suddenly her eyes went dull. She lowered her arm and the hand holding the syringe dangled at her side limply. Wasaki couldn't comprehend what had happened until the nurse stepped aside to reveal a very welcoming sight.

Maleah entered the room from behind the nurse. She had used a confuse ray attack to subdue the hysterical woman and put her under a sort of psychic control.

"Maleah! You're a sight for sore eyes!" Wasaki exclaimed, dropping the now subdued Sneasel.

"And you're a stupid git!" She exclaimed angrily. "What on Earth do you think you're doing?"

"I'm sorry." He said, bowing his head in shame. "But I have to free that Absol. I know that if I talk to him, he'll come around."

"But, he tried to kill you. How can you be so sure that he won't try and kill you again, after you free him?" She asked worriedly.

He sighed. "I don't, but I have to try and apologize properly. If he won't accept my words than maybe he'll see that I'm sorry through my actions."

Maleah was about to speak up when Schemer angrily cut in. "Yeah, well could you just hurry things along kid! This is turning out to be much more trouble than this is worth!" He snarled at Wasaki.

"We still need to get into the basement." Wasaki said as he looked at the door.

Maleah gave a small smile. "I think I can help. While she's still confused, I can get her to open the lock." Without a word or movement, Nurse Joy moved forward, under Maleah's command, and entered a card key into the door. She typed a code on the number pad and with a hiss the door slid open.

Schemer stomped forward, closely followed by Wasaki and Maleah, and with Nurse Joy taking up the rear. Through the door was a set of stairs, which led to a large, laboratory looking room. There were several cages along the right side of the wall, yet only one was occupied. A white ball was huddled against one of the sides of the cage and didn't even lift its head when the group of four stopped outside of it.

"Sacha. I know you don't want to see me alive right now but I have to talk to you." Wasaki approached the cage mournfully.

The ball of fur known as Sacha barely moved. But his body gave a slight jerk when he heard the addresser speak. Therefore, Wasaki could tell that Sacha could hear him just fine.

"There is nothing I could ever say or do that could justify what I did, how I acted. Absolutely nothing at all…. But there is something I can do. Something I can do that might at least convince you that I am sorry beyond time and space."

Sacha raised his head. He didn't turn to space Wasaki, in fact he still kept his back to him. But at least Wasaki knew that he was least absorbing what was being said.

"I want you to know that I'm not doing this out of selfish reasons. I'm not doing this because I want to silence my own crying conscience. I'm doing this because I want to. Because you deserve a second chance at life, not the life of a trainers Pokemon, but the life that you were born into. The life that we shared together in the distant past, the one where we were good friends. The life that you once had a loving mate, the life that you learned what it was like to love another. The life of a wild Absol, the life of being in a pack. I don't deserve to return to that life or that pack. But you do, and I want you to." Wasaki said somberly.

Sacha turned his head to face Wasaki this time, "And what is it that you want to do?" He asked, his face holding no emotion.

Wasaki sighed. "I want to take your spot on death row. You would be free to return to the outside world."

Sacha stared at Wasaki's face for a long time. The negative emotions of betrayal, sorrow, and anger seemed to have permanently made their mark on his once youthful face. However, the traces of new emotions seemed to be slowly replacing them. Pity, renewed hope, and slight forgiveness seemed to be making their way onto his features. For a moment, time seemed to reverse and in their mind's eye each could see the other as they did when they had been friends.

They both had tears streaming down their faces. Wasaki approached the cage and wedged his snout in between the bars as best as he could. Sacha moved forward and pressed his cheek to Wasaki's. They both placed a paw through the bars and gripped the other tightly as small sobs wracked their bodies.

They could've stayed like that for all of time until a rude voice interrupted them.

"So, you take his place, get yourself killed and he goes free. When, may I ask, would you be paying me?" Schemer hissed in a feral manner.

Wasaki moved back from the cage. "I, erm, hadn't thought about that." He admitted. "Can't you find it in your heart to do this one for free?" He asked.

Schemer's temper flared up tenfold. "Free? FREE! I do NOT work for free you mongrel! I demand that you pay me my human money right now!" He bellowed.

Maleah stepped forward. "Calm down, this will all work out in the end. If Wasaki really were to end his life, which I hope he knows I would be heartbroken if he did," She said with a small smile to Wasaki, "I will personally find payment. However Wasaki, if you do go through with this, and I know I can't stop you if I tried, I want you to know that I love you." She admitted, while blushing under her fur.

Wasaki smiled in a loving way. He was about to respond when Sacha spoke up.

"Can you go through with ending your life when you know that someone who loves you will be left behind? Wasaki, I forgive you and please know that I will keep my spot on death row. You can be with your love, and I can be with mine." He said.

Wasaki shook his head. "I said I'd take your spot and I will. I love you too, Maleah, and you don't understand how much it means to me that you respect my position." A tear fell from Maleah's eye.

"Why don't we prevent any deaths from happening? If you both go free then maybe there's a chance of harmony." She suggested.

Schemer's temper seemed to flare out of control at that particular moment. "IF I DON'T GET MY MONEY, RIGHT NOW, THERE WILL BE MORE THAN ONE DEATH TODAY!" He howled and charged at Maleah, the closest one to him.

Wasaki growled and leapt upon him. The two fought tooth and nail, both as hard as they could. Schemer ended up pining Wasaki to the ground with a claw poking his throat.

"Nobody better make any moves. Or fuzzy here will get –" He started but was cut off. Without anyone noticing, including Maleah, Nurse Joy had snapped out of her confusion. The syringe that held the serum intended to put down Sacha was now flowing into Schemer's veins. Schemer went limp and slid off Wasaki, the syringe swiftly removed from his back by Nurse Joy.

She wordlessly opened Sacha's cage, who bounded out with renewed life and moved over to where Wasaki and Maleah were.

Nurse Joy looked downcast as she picked up the Sneasel's body. "The paperwork will be changed to note that a Sneasel was due to be put down. The three of you will get out of this town now and if I ever see you return here then I will promise you I won't help you again.

They gave a nod, and a silent thanks before walking up the stairs. Wasaki turned back to watch the body of Schemer be zipped into a small Pokemon body bag. He turned around to face forward and moved on with pity for the Pokemon who had only wanted payment, but instead met death. If anyone were to die from that syringe, it should've been him.

"Don't worry Wasaki. It was an accident. This time, you can sleep soundly knowing that it wasn't your fault and there was nothing you could do to stop it." Sacha said knowingly, with a comforting nudge to Wasaki's side.

* * *

Authoresses Note: I'm actually really please at teway this chapter turned out, seeing as I've been absent for far too long. I hope this could sart to make up for the absence.


	10. Wasaki Part IV

Broken Honour and Armour: Wasaki's Tale – Part IV

Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

Authoresses Note: Thanks for all your continued support, I just love you guys :3. I hope you enjoy the fourth and final chapter of this side story. It's a little shorter than most I guess. But it's also very important.

* * *

The trio traveled around for several months after the Pokemon Center breakout. They had to be on alert at all times for they were constantly pursued. Annette was obviously in pursuit of her lost Pokemon and the three had already had several run in with Officer Jennys. It was hard to avoid attention when you were in a group made up of two uncommon Pokemon and one very rare Pokemon. Therefore it was hard to remain undetected, even in the dense green of the forest. White is a hard colour to hide unless there is a thick foliage present to completely obscure the snowy white pelts.

Gathering food was easy enough at least. Wasaki and Sacha were wild at heart and could still bring back enough kills to feed themselves and the other two, despite being cooped up in pokeballs for a stretch of time. Maleah had been in captivity for much to long to be any use at gathering food. The two Absols, however, happily brought back enough food. Sleeping was done in shifts, one would stay awake and keep guard until one of the others took over.

They weren't traveling aimlessly though. Wasaki was on a mission to try and make amends with his old pack. It wouldn't be easy, or particularly safe, but he felt he had to do it or die trying. He never asked the other two to accompany him. In fact, he discouraged it. On one of the times they had nearly been caught by a Jenny, he had angrily told Maleah to return to Annette. She didn't deserve a life of running when she could have a life of comfort. But she refused to leave. She planned on returning to Annette after he accomplished his goal. Until then, however, she would stand by him.

Wasaki too planned on following Maleah back to Annette. But after he accomplished his goal. That is, if Annette would take him back. If Annette refused to take him back, seeing as it was he who caused this mess, than he would leave Maleah with her. He could rest knowing that she was comfortable and safe with her trainer, though he sincerely hoped to be with her.

Sacha was friendly and seemed to harbour no ill-feelings towards Wasaki. But at the same time he never brought up anything to do with what had happened in the past. To Wasaki, it was quite clear that as long as Sacha didn't think about what Wasaki had done, then he could forgive him. Therefore, Wasaki never made any attempt to bring anything back up. Though one day, he knew, they would have to talk about it. It was unavoidable. Especially seeing as they were headed back to see Derak and the pack that Wasaki had betrayed.

The shrewd and untrusting side of Wasaki, the one he had repressed for quite some time, would occasionally pop up inside his head. He would question the motives behind Sacha's actions, wondering if instead of leading him back to rejoin, he was actually bringing him back to be slaughtered. For revenge. As much as Wasaki tried to squash this thought, it was a very real fear. There was the possibility that Sacha were leading him back out of his plans or out of Derak's. There was also the possibility of Sacha not siding with him when they returned, but instead being a neutral party and letting Wasaki talk his way out of this one on his own. This fear, however, was much less than the former.

As they got closer and closer to Fortree City, Wasaki truly began to miss his birthplace and home. It was a very large part of him, one that he could not ignore. To leave it without being on good terms with it's other inhabitants was a massive burden that Wasaki had never anticipated. He never imagined that his betrayal of the pack could have the biggest impact on himself. It was proof of the strong connection between pack members. However, Wasaki also acknowledged that the connection was fallible. It certainly wasn't present when he had cruelly took over lands that were not his. It certainly wasn't present as he killed several of his own kind and had other Pokemon do the same.

It certainly wasn't present when he completely lost sense of his place in his pack. His place long forgotten.

He only hoped that he could resume his place and that the connection between his packs members and himself did not fail when he returned. Because if it did fail, they would surely kill him.

The party of three stopped just outside the border. It was a bright, clear day. The sun was shining its rays down to the earth and warming the ground. Wasaki hoped that it was a good omen.

They stood in complete silence until Sacha solemnly turned to Wasaki, "Are you ready?" He asked.

Wasaki couldn't answer. Was he ready? Could he face his pack once more? Would he even make it out alive? Would they spare Maleah? Oh, Maleah….

He silently turned to look at his beautiful mate-to-be. There was no way he could risk having her get hurt if they came after him. He had to tell her to turn back now.

Before he could open his mouth, Sacha spoke up once more.

"Don't worry. There is no ulterior motive here. You and I are simply returning so that you can apologize. I promise that you will not be in any danger because I am here. Maleah will not be in any danger likewise. I have once lost a mate to someone else's cruelty. I promise that I could not bear to see the same happen to another Pokemon." He said in a strong voice, one that was quite new for Wasaki to hear because Sacha had always been the meek and gentle Absol of their age.

Wasaki realized he couldn't speak for a moment. He was touched to the point where tears were welling in his eyes. Finally, he was able to swallow the lump that had grown in his throat and speak.

"Even if…Even if that Pokemon was the one to blame?" He asked in a quiet and shaking voice.

Sacha nodded slowly. "Any Pokemon. Now, I'll ask you again. Are you ready?"

Wasaki looked up. The emotion in his eyes suddenly became determined.

"I am ready."

They entered the northern border and walked in. Wasaki was waiting for a guard to leap down from a higher ledge and stand them down. He was waiting for the Pidgeot to swoop down and make sure that Wasaki felt his talons. He was waiting for Derak himself to walk in front of them and say that he had been waiting for them.

But nothing happened.

They walked through the lands in silence. Not encountering a soul. They searched every cave, every ledge, and every hot spot. The lands were scorched and part of the forest was burnt to the ground. The fields had been burned up for the most part.

It was a ghost town.

Something was very wrong here.

Sacha and Wasaki looked around at their home in horror. Neither could explain the disappearance of every Absol from the pack. There was no sign that any living creature had been here for quite some time.

"They're…gone." Sacha said in a disbelieving horror.

Wasaki couldn't speak. This was the first time that he had seen his home since his unhappy departure. He was supposed to come back and apologize. He supposed to come back to his pack. What was going on?

Sacha pawed at the sooty ground. "This was done by several powerful fire Pokemon. Though I have no idea why. And I have no idea where the Absols could've gone." He said in a downcast voice.

"At least we know that the fire didn't get them." Wasaki said. "Because if it did, we'd have found some trace." He shuddered at the image.

Sacha nodded. "They escaped. But we have no idea what species did this and for what purpose."

Maleah spoke up, "Your friend Derak," she started, "He seemed like he had made a lot of enemies when the Persians came into the lands. Perhaps that by killing the leader of the Persians, he made enemies not just with the Persians but with all of the Persians followers." She speculated.

"That's exactly right." A voice came from behind them.

The three jumped around and leapt into a defensive stance. They had been snuck up on and forcefully brought out of their daydreams. To their surprise, and rage, they found a young Persian male lying lazily behind them.

Sacha's usually calm face broke out into a fierce snarl. "You! What do you think you're doing here Persian?" He spat angrily. It seemed that while he had forgiven Wasaki, he could not bring himself to be civil to the Persian. The very type of Pokemon that had done Wasaki's bidding without hesitation and without feeling any remorse.

The Persian seemed undisturbed at the fact that three angry Pokemon were seemingly ready to tear him to shreds.

"I've been taking residence here. It's the only place that I could think of that no one would find me." He said simply while giving his tail a lazy flick.

"This land is forbidden to your kind." Sacha got right up close to the Persian's face as he said this, putting strong emphasis on the word 'your'. "Get out now or else we'll take you by force. Run out of here now or else I promise you, you won't even be able to manage to walk out of here. When we're finished with you, that is."

The Persian didn't even flinch as Sacha threatened him with what sounded like a brutal death. He didn't even unsheathe his claws or get into a defensive stance. He merely continued to lie on the grassy field.

"I don't know you and you don't know me. The simple fact that you're judging me based on what my kind has done to you is preventing us from getting anywhere. What if, for one moment, there were no different types or kinds of Pokemon? What if just for this one moment in time we were just three beings, completely autonomous of any ancestry or categories that we have had bestowed upon us? Maybe then, just for that moment, I could explain to you what's going on here and why everyone is in the wrong." He said calmly, yet passionately, looking Sacha dead in the eye.

There was something mysterious about this Persian. He looked familiar to Wasaki, yet Wasaki knew that he had never met him before in his life. Still, he was very curious as to what the Persian had to say. Wasaki stepped up beside Sacha and stuck out a paw in front of him.

"Wait, let's just let him finish." He said. Sacha backed down, looking calmer, but still not happy.

"Go ahead." Maleah pressed gently.

The Persian looked around at the trio. He sighed and said, in a very simple yet exasperated way, "We're in a continent-wide, inter-pokemon war. And we're sitting in the very spot that sparked it all."


	11. Meetings

Heart's Like The Tides: Chapter 7 – Meetings

Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

Authoresses Note: Sorry guys, it was a little bit tough making the transition back to Derak and company. I hope this chapter is enjoyable for all of you. I know Wasaki's side-quest ended but don't you worry. There will be plenty more of him to come :).

A female Absol tore through the dense bush surrounding Mt. Chimney. She had to be careful, for if she were seen by any Machop or its evolutions, she'd completely ruin Derak's plans for the Rock Pokemon clan. If she traveled fast and quietly she'd reach them without problem. Those particular fighting Pokemon were kind of dense in the head. They didn't tend to be aware of much that was going on around them. They focused fully in their training and didn't care about much else.

The Absol snickered as the thought occurred to her that they probably didn't have much more than muscle between each ear. Though the amusement passed as soon as it had come. There was a lot at stake here and the Machop and evolutions could not be known of her presence. They were already loyal to the Persians, and it was crucial that Andromeda didn't find out exactly which Pokemon Derak was enlisting. If she knew, she could plan out which types to enlist to better take them out.

Derak was aiming to get all of the Pokemon that the Persians had oppressed. All of the Pokemon whose lands had been taken from them unjustly and had been relocated. The Rock Clan were one such group. The Persians had pretty much taken every type of rock Pokemon they could find in Hoenn and made them move to one remote location in the mountains. The Persians apparently found rock Pokemon to be a big threat. Seeing as Normal types had little to no effect on them, they were forced away in smaller, easier to manage groups and led to their new home. The Persians had gotten the help of the surrounding Machop and it's evolutions to ensure that they stayed exactly where they were placed.

That was five years ago, now it was Derak's dream to see this large group of Pokemon revolt against their captors and join his side. The fighting Pokemon were a much smaller group and with the co-ordination of one of Derak's Absols, the rock Pokemon would be able to overcome them.

The Absol managed to avoid any fighting Pokemon and finally made it to the gates of the Clan's home. She hid in a nearby bush and watched. There were several Machoke lingering around, presumably guarding the door. However, they were quite distracted at the moment and were flexing their arms and comparing muscle sizes. The Absol rolled her eyes. She needed an idea to lead them from the gates. Once she slipped in, they'd never find her. The fighting Pokemon never actually went into the Clan's lands, just prevented them from leaving.

She looked around, looking for some way to get past them. She couldn't attack them, it'd be suspicious. She had to do everything quietly and unnoticed. She continued to watch them from her hiding place for quite some time. Eventually a female Machoke sauntered over. The Absol watched as she tried to get the attention of the males, however her efforts were in vain. The males were in the heat of an arm wrestling contest and could seemingly care less about the female. The Absol suddenly felt a wave of fury, what kind of male could ever resist a female who was trying to get their attention? However, a smile slowly spread across the Absol's face as an idea struck.

The female was about to walk off, shoulders hung with rejection. The Absol took aim, and fired her best attempt at the males.

"Attract," she thought smugly to herself, "has got to be the greatest attack to ever exist."

The effect was gradual. The males slowly lowered their arms from their arm wrestling match. The lot of them turned their heads towards the only other female in sight, the female Machoke. Soon, all three had hearts in their eyes as they took off full tilt towards the now frightened female. The Absol snickered as the female took off running from the males advances. The gate was now unoccupied, at least for a short while, and she was free to enter.

She set off through the gate, and entered the Clan lands. She stopped to talk to an Onix, unafraid of his sheer size, to ask directions to the leaders of the clan. He sent her along a dirt path that led to the Cave of the Elders. She walked unbothered and unscathed the entire way, for the rock Pokemon could see she meant them no harm. As she boldly entered the Cave of the Elders, the entire population sighed with relief. Hope was felt in their collective hearts because they knew that they had a chance for their freedom.

* * *

Andromeda consulted with her strongest and most trusted. They sat in a circle inside her personal sleeping quarters, the most private den on the Persian home lands. Ignazio was the only non-Persian in the room and was quite cramped in the small cave. He couldn't hold his neck upright and had to duck uncomfortably. Still, he remained without complaint. He was happy to be considered trustworthy by Andromeda. It went without question that he was the most powerful ally she currently had, but it filled him with a enormous sense of pride to be in the inner circle of the most politically powerful group of Pokemon in Hoenn.

His brother Egon apparently didn't feel the same, the traitor. Still, if he refused to follow his older brother then he was no family to him. They'd meet again, and when they did Ignazio would make him sorry that he ever betrayed family.

"If its war Derak wants, then its war Derak will get!" Andromeda cried out, the battle lust evident in her voice.

The other Persians yowled in response. The only light in the den came from Ignazio's tail flame, the light glinted off of the Persian's eyes giving an eerie effect. Night had long since fallen.

"Mam, unfortunately Derak's side doesn't see it as war that they want. They gave us the ultimatum of giving up all the land of the other Pokemon types or an attack will take place." A Persian spoke up.

Andromeda hissed angrily. "He knows that I will never give up the land that Akoni fought to acquire. He made the mistake of challenging us. I'll show him what happens when you screw around with us. I'm going to kill him personally. I'm going to avenge Akoni!"

A large and burly, albeit heavily scarred, Persian spoke up. "Either way, we need to ensure our victory. They've been gathering basically whatever type of Pokemon that we've previously taken over. And as you are all aware, we've taken over a lot of Pokemon."

Andromeda gave him a nod. "You all know Larkin, correct? He is the commander of our armies and has seen many battles. I agree with you wholeheartedly Larkin. We must gather our own allies. We may have taken over many Pokemon, but they're all weak. Our allies are ones that we deliberately picked to be on our side. Even if we're outnumbered a thousand to one, we can still overtake every last one of them."

"You think so, do you?" A voice called from the den entrance way.

There was a collective gasp and all heads turned towards the speaker. A male Persian, a tad on the smaller side, walked into the cave.

Andromeda was the first to speak up. "Sadi? Have you really come back to us?" She asked hopefully.

He shrugged nonchalantly. "No, I've just come to tell you that you're wrong."

She growled deep in her throat. "Son or not, I demand to know why you suddenly disappeared a week after your evolution ceremony. That was nearly a month ago!"

He looked at her defiantly. "You. I left because of you."

She gave a surprised gasp, but no response. Sitting back on her haunches with one paw raised in surprise, she didn't seem to have an answer.

He continued on as if nothing had happened. "You're actually supporting what Akoni did? He was a horrible tyrant. I've been traveling around, trying to get answers, trying to figure out why you were so eager to keep all the land that he had conquered. And you know what I found out? Do you know what the answer is, mother? The answer is greed! Disgusting, filthy greed!" He snarled.

"Shut up!" She screeched. "Don't talk about your father like that! He was a good Persian and a strong leader! A leader you could never even attempt to be!"

"I don't want to be a leader if it means enslaving hundreds of Pokemon! And you know what else? You're afraid. Afraid that someone has finally got the guts to overthrow your rule. This Derak, he wants peace, but he's not afraid to fight for it. His armies have something that you and your black hearted armies could never even begin to comprehend. They've got hope. They want their freedom back, and mercy on whoever tries to stop them!"

Having said that speech he turned and dashed out of the den. Andromeda gave chase out of the den and to the beginning of the forest that he had entered. She stopped and the rest of the Pokemon in the den followed and stopped behind her.

"Sadi! Sadi, if you hear this, you're as good as dead to me! If I ever catch sight of you anywhere near these lands, I'll have you skinned alive!" She yowled.

She continued to yell threats for awhile longer and finally fell silent. She had her back to them and he head was lowered. Larkin approached her.

"What would you have us do now, Mam?" He inquired, somewhat nervously.

A first there was no answer. "Mam?" He asked again.

After sometime she finally moved. She lifted her head and a horrible and eerie sound began to fill the clearing. She was laughing, mirthless laughter. A haunting and evil sound filled the ears of all present. She finally turned, with a demented look on her face and a look of pure wickedness in her eyes.

"Assemble the armies." She said quietly. "I want every last ally we have to be prepared. I want an army as huge as Mount Chimney itself, mobilized and ready to wipe Derak and his little friends clear off the face of this planet. DO YOU HEAR ME?!" She roared.

Larkin nodded. "Understood Mam, I can have them prepared in three night falls."

"Good, now get to it!" She ordered, and Larkin dashed off.

The rest of the Pokemon stood, awaiting her next command.

She turned to them. "All of you, listen to me!" She shouted. "You better get ready for the biggest kill of your lives! We are going to take out the one who killed Akoni, and anyone that follows him! Take no prisoners and show no mercy. Anyone who's on Derak's side must be killed and as you're killing them, make sure they know exactly who's fault it is! Tell them that it was Derak who foolishly led them into battle. And it's on his say-so that they're being slaughtered! UNDERSTOOD?"

The Persians and Charizard gave a deafening roar! They were ready for battle and bloodshed, for it was what they had been raised to know and understand under Akoni's rule. It was all they could truly understand and it even surpassed such emotions as love for family and compassion.

"Now, all of you, disperse and prepare for our battle. Ignazio, you stay with me. I have to speak to you about a special job I need you to do!" She said evilly, and smiled a toothy grin.

He copied her hate filled smile and followed her back into the cave. His tail flame burned brighter as he knew that whatever job she had in mind, it would surely involve lots of bloodshed.

* * *

In the middle of a clearing he stood, trying to calm his nerves. Not a muscle in his body moved. His eyes were closed and to anyone who might've been watching, he resembled a statue. Only his magnificent mane moved, it danced in the wind's breeze and skipped along each gust.

"Derak! We bring news for you."

He opened his eyes slowly but still made no move. "Then let's hear it!" He said, his voice deadpan. His back was to the two who had just entered the clearing. They looked briefly at each other before continuing. He hadn't been himself lately. He'd also been mostly keeping to himself, unless he had to speak with anyone regarding the upcoming war.

"We've just got word that the Rock Clan is ready to move out. Latika is with them right now." Zeus reported. Derak finally got up. He turned around to see Zeus and Avis standing behind him. He started pacing.

"Since they're the most conspicuous group of Pokemon we have, we should move them first. The Persians will still be taken by surprise, but it's a good enough warning to let them know that the battle has begun. They know what we've been doing, but they'll have no clue about what direction we're coming from. Once they start mobilizing against the rock Pokemon on Mount Chimney, we'll take them by surprise and bring all of our armies right behind them." He explained.

"When should I go and give the signal to the Rock Clan?" Avis asked?

"In four days. Leave in two. It only takes a day of flying to get the Mount Chimney, but in case anything happens you've got an extra day to sort it out." Derak said.

Avis nodded his understanding and began to walk out of the clearing.

"If I don't see you, good luck." Derak said, Avis stopped and turned. For a minute they made eye contact. Avis could see conflict and worry in Derak's eyes. He nodded again. "I'll be fine. Don't worry about me, you've got enough to worry about as it is."

Derak gave a small, sad smile. "Thank you." Avis just gave a smile and continued walking away.

Zeus looked at Derak once more. "There's something else. Someone is here to see you, they said they've traveled a great distance." He said.

"Oh? Who is it?" Derak asked quizzically.

Zeus nodded to the path in the woods and a Pokemon stepped into the clearing.

"Geez Derak, I come all this way to see you just to find that you're leading a war! You might've thought to tell me!" The purple dog Pokemon said, indignantly.

Derak's face broke out into the first smile, in a long time. "Favian!" He cried happily.


End file.
